Spell Cards and Keyblades
by WillieG.R
Summary: Heartless have taken Gensokyo thanks to the efforts of a hateful shadow; Reimu has been sealed, and now hope lies on the shrine maiden's allies, and the three visitors from Disney Castle. *NOTE: This story is heavy on gameplay mechanics!*
1. Chapter 1

**NOTE: This is written in the point of view of the Touhou cast, and to them, Heartless and Keyblades are a mystery until after explained about these. Also note that there are no specific time-lines set for either the TH or the KH cast/worlds. Also note there might be slight changes (or none) to the Touhou cast's outfits, as well as some Heartless. Please also keep in mind that I might be making Heartless up in order to move the story along (I will leave a notice before the chapter begin if I do add original Heartless). Hope you'll enjoy.**

**Please note that the beginning of this story is OC heavy, but please bare with it, as I balance this out along the way. **

* * *

Gensokyo, a patch of land sealed away from the world we live in today by a powerful barrier; a paradise for youkai, gods, and some humans, but a prison for one particular being...

The Misty Lake, a large lake that rests on the foot of the Youkai Mountain, is home to many spirits, be it fairies or youkai, and over at the far back of the lake, yet not far enough to reach the Youkai Mountain, there is a single, small island.

On this island, there is a large red mansion that gives the impression of being a castle, even having a large clock tower as part of the architecture.

There are barely a handful of windows visible from the outside, and the mansion itself is surrounded by a spectacular garden, one large red gate that surrounds it completely, bushy trees that seem to embrace the mansion's outer walls, and, of course, water from the lake that surrounds the island.

This is the Scarlet Devil Mansion, home to Remilia Scarlet, a vampire, and along with her, there also live fairies that work for her as maids, a dragon youkai, a very gifted but unmoving magician, a small demon, oddly enough, a human with amazing powers over time and space, and there is one more vampire, who until a few years before, remained locked inside her room, and happens to be Remilia's own little sister.

On the island itself live two more beings, two shadows that came to be by unnatural means, but seem to live peacefully with their scarlet mansion neighbors... but appearances can be deceiving.

* * *

So early in the morning, everything seems peaceful enough to suggest a calm and uneventful day, but that is all about to change.

A sudden roar, accompanied by several explosions on the right side of the mansion's gates, destroy any hopes of peace and quiet anyone in the area had.

A pale-skinned girl with long, wavy white hair and red eyes, wearing a golden necklace, an open dark-blue vest with silver borders, a purple sleeveless shirt, and a long black skirt that covers the ghostly tail she has for legs, looks desperate, breathing rapidly through her mouth, while hiding behind a tree with a look on her sweaty face that reveals the fright coursing through her entire being.

Kali presses her back against that tree as though trying to push herself inside of it, and after she hears two more explosions to her far left, the takes a deep breath and says to herself "good... I lost her."

From the branch above Kali's head, a woman mockingly says "oh yes, you lost me alright. The thing is, even if I lose you, I can find you easily with my left eye, you twit!"

Kali trembles as she forces herself to look up to see a woman with light-orange hair that reaches just above her lower back, a yellow lizard-like right eye, and a black left eye with a red lizard-like pupil that seems to be surrounded by white flames.

She wears a green beret on her head with a golden star to the left of said hat, an open green vest, showing off her womanly figure, which is covered by a slightly stained white shirt, and what should be a long green skirt has been ripped in half, showing off the woman's legs, and shows off even more of her gorgeous body by wearing a pair of brown shorts with two small pockets, that reach just above her knees.

Kimi grins at the frightened girl beneath her, opens her left hand to prepare a large fireball, and just before tossing it on Kali's head, her face turns intense with a vile smile as she says "boom."

There is a powerful and loud explosion that rattles the entire island, and Kali now screams and runs... or sort of hovers, as though her life is on the line, heading wherever her ghostly tail can take her.

Still standing on that tree branch, Kimi looks to the right of the island, where Kali is running to, then grins and says to herself "oh, what would I do without Kali to pick on. Probably something drastic."

After saying that, she takes flight and goes up and up, until she's at least ten feet above the trees, then claps her hands together as though praying.

Her ripped skirt and open vest start flailing about as though a powerful gust of wind is pushing its way around her, then Kimi's entire body and clothes start shinning bright-yellow.

In a flash of blinding light, the glowing woman becomes a massive snake-like dragon with dark-green scales that turn black against the light, long thin whiskers that grow from the sides of her snout, a pair of fins for ears, large jagged pearly teeth, a dangerous-looking yellow right dragon eye, and a glowing red left eye.

Kimi roars loudly and moves swiftly after Kali, shouting "run, little gerbil. This dragon is **bored** and hungry!"

* * *

After Kimi transforms, Kali squeals with fright and flies faster, though she still doesn't know where she should run to.

As she hovers rapidly, she cries to herself "stupid dragon is mad! I must hide, but I just don't know where!"

She looks up to the sky and shouts "but I didn't do anything today! Why are you trying to kill me?", in hopes that Kimi will leave her alone.

Kali's fears are fed further when Kimi replies "I told you, I am bored and hungry! Just give me some sport and I might spare your head. Don't worry! As long as that head remains, you can resurrect!"

This gives absolutely no comfort to the shadow youkai, and only makes her move faster.

Kimi gets overexcited, evident when a spell card appears above her large head as she shouts "Dragon's Mega Flame... Homing!"

The dragon winds back, she takes a deep breath, her mouth fills with fire, and with a very sudden forward thrust, she spits out a large fireball that is followed by three smaller fireballs.

Kali is now hyperventilating as she desperately flies for safety, but she knows she's doomed.

If she flies higher, Kimi will get her, but if she keeps hovering around on the ground like that, she's going to get fried.

She somehow trips, even though she doesn't have legs to trip with, and falls on her face, sliding on the ground for a bit before coming to a full stop.

Kali spits the dirt from her mouth as she slowly gets back up, and that's when she notices a strange formation of rocks in front of her.

They look like a door of sorts, with two whitish gray rocks supporting an oval rock of the same color on top, all resting against the ground that seems to rise behind these stones, hinting of being able to provide some cover, but getting in there won't be easy, seeing as the rocks on the sides are so close together.

The homing fireball to the right is getting closer, and Kimi is cackling above Kali's head on the skies, but that's when Kali remembers something.

She smacks the side of her own head with her left hand and says "jeez, I'm such an idiot! I can turn into a shadow!"

In a moment, her pale skin turns translucent black, her wavy white hair becomes smoother, her eyes lose their pupil as they start glowing red, her gold necklace remains the same, but the silver borders on her vest, the only visible piece of clothes on her now, turn golden for some unexplainable reason.

Once in her shadow form, Kali rushes inside the rock formation and avoids being hit by the homing fireballs, though her ghostly tail gets a little singed.

The fireballs impact on the ground right in front of the rocks and cause the ground to shake along with a deafening explosion, and a thick cloud of dust to rise to the sky.

Kimi, still in her dragon form, looks around the area by closing her right eye, and looking around with her left.

Everything looks black with white shades and outlines through that eye, but life forms look red, green, or blue, depending on their body temperatures and energy waves.

After looking around for Kali's red silhouette for about a minute, Kimi returns to her human form with a blinding yellow flash, shrugs, then casually says "seems I vaporized her. Too bad.", then flies toward the back of the island while whistling a happy little tune for herself.

On the ground, after the smoke clears, the strange rocks have turned blackish purple, the space through the two rocks has expanded, and said rocks are emanating an eerie dark blue glow that protected the entire area around the stone formation from the fireballs, but there isn't a single soul around to witness such an event, so the rocks return to their whitish grey color, making themselves look harmless once more.

* * *

Inside the rocks, what Kali thought was just a small hole to hide in, is actually a massive cave, too big to be underneath the small island on the lake, yet Kali doesn't seem to be able to realize this.

The cave is lit by a very dim dark blue glow; on the edges, rocky beams seem to be supporting the roof from falling, the ground is so dark, it is as if there is no ground at all, and deeper into the cave, the dim blue glow gets swallowed up by a dark purple glow.

To Kali, this eerie and dark cave feels like paradise.

It's so cold, so mysteriously quiet, but more importantly, it is very dark, something a shadow youkai like Kali appreciates very much.

After looking around for a bit, Kali whistles with surprise and says "wow, who knew such a wonderful place existed under this stupid little island. Hmm."

She starts floating deeper into the dark and silent cave, admiring the strange dark rocky roof, odd rock formations on the ground that look like they could spring into life, strange bumps that look like large black pimples with purple puss flowing out, and that's when she sees another peculiar thing.

She quickens her pace, flying quickly toward the back of the cave, where the dim blue light is replaced by a dark purple glow that emanates from a central spot on the back of said cave.

A wide grin takes over Kali's face as she turns back to her human from; though she still lacks legs, so maybe it's semi-human form; and when she is just a few steps away from the purple-glowing source, several orbs of light rain down from the ceiling, making the shadow youkai fly back, then these light start circling softly around that dark source, making three lines.

The farthest and inner lines circle clockwise, while the center line circles counterclockwise, all circling very softly, and at the same time, emanating a warning light to keep Kali away.

Sitting on the dark ground, she takes a better look at that dark source and realizes it is a towering dark translucent purple crystal with a black flame, a shadow flame, in its center.

The odd flame has a gray center, while the body itself is black, and the outline is purple.

Looking at the crystal, Kali says "that... that flame. That flame calls me. It... it's mine, I want it. I... I want the flame!"

She pushes herself off the ground, feeling a strange surge of power flowing through her, and without hesitation, she aims to fly above the circling lights.

The orbs of light, though seemingly harmless, rise up and form some sort of dome of light with beams that form a polygonal net between them, but Kali will not stop.

She boldly pushes on, surrounding her body with a purple flame that eats the light up and allows Kali safe passage through the dome-like light net.

Once she is through, she lands right in front of the crystal, gazes upon its glorious and eerie dark glow, raises her left hand, then touches it with a grin on her face.

The second she touches it, the orbs of light scatter all throughout the cave, and now, strange yellow dots with what look like antennas fill the floors and walls of the cave.

While this happens, the shadow flame slowly makes its way out of the crystal and enters Kali's chest.

Once inside her chest, the towering crystal buzzes, and three tiny crystal pieces, followed by a large crystal chunk with three prongs springing from its top, float toward Kimi's lifted right hand and hover just above it.

She somehow already knows what these are for, and with a wicked grin on her face, she turns around to look at the increasing number of yellow dots and antennas, then starts cackling loudly, raising both hands in celebration.

Five days pass, and although everything seems peaceful in Gensokyo, some youkai and humans that are sensitive to energy waves feel there is more to this peace than meets the eye.

* * *

The Hakurei Shrine, a peaceful and lonely shrine at the eastern border of Gensokyo, set on top of a tall mountain, ever guarding the peaceful land, as well as the border that separates Gensokyo from the outside world.

Upon reaching the top of the long, long stairs, the tall, worn red gates are the first thing to greet any visitor, and to its left; from the point of view of the shrine itself; sits the extension for the Moriya Shine.

Further ahead, following the stone path, is the main shrine with the donation box in front of it, and it would be completely empty, but thanks to the help of two half youkai, it sometimes contains a few scattered coins and paper moneys inside.

To the left is a hot spring, and to the right, the stone path narrows out as it reaches for the shrine's living house, the surprisingly large backyard used for training, the storage house at the farthest end, and behind this storage house is a pretty large lake.

The shrine itself is surrounded by trees and bushes, and during spring, flowers turn the shrine into a marvelous and beautiful sight, though today, that is not the case.

On the back of the shrine, behind the living house; or living quarters; are various dummies set on the ground that is surrounded by the narrow stone path, which ends right before reaching the greenhouse that rests to the left of the storage house, which is surrounded by trees and bushes that seem to want to get inside of it.

Today should be no different than any other, but there are some signs that suggest the contrary.

For starters, Rika Onkamikami, the shrine's loyal maid, and her familiar and shikigami, Suzaku the Bird of Vermilion, are nowhere in sight.

Another odd sight is that there is nobody drinking tea on the shrine's porch, something Reimu Hakurei, the maiden of the shrine, and guardian of Gensokyo, is known to do on a daily basis.

It is almost midday now, and from the skies just above the red gate in front of the shrine, a well known visitor arrives.

A boy with short unkempt brown hair, brownish gold eyes, wearing a dark violet shirt, a pair of black pants with six silver zippers that seal his pockets, three on each side, a pair of brown boots and white socks, and a golden bracelet with a light-green jewel on his right wrist, flies forth and lands in front of the donation box.

His name is Anilan Inmodo Leuch, but he prefers to be called Ail, and ever since he entered Gensokyo, along with his friend, Kyo, through one of Yukari's gaps, he's become fast friends with the Hakurei maiden, which in turn has earned him quite a few youkai friends as well.

He approaches the donation box, pulls quite a few gold and silver coins from his left pocket, unloads them all into the donation box, then grabs the red and white entwined rope above the box and pulls on it to ring the bells twice before starting his prayer.

* * *

A moment passes by and Ail quickly notices something is off.

He opens his left eye to look toward the edge of the building, and quickly realizes something is missing.

Reimu hasn't peeked her eager face to see who has donated, something that amuses him to no ends.

He bows to finish his prayer, but forgets to ring the bell when his heart starts beating fast, and a chill takes his chest with each beating.

Sounding worried, Ail loudly asks "Reimu? Rika? Is anybody there?"

His breathing quickens when there is no reply, and now, as he walks in a rush toward the living quarters, he nervously and loudly calls "Reimu, Rika, answer me! I-Is someone there? Mima? Suika? Aya? Anyone?"

He reaches the front-left entrance to the living room with his right hand, and that is when the crystal on his bracelet changes to blue, and makes that sound of a droplet falling on the ground, which means there is danger.

He stops from opening the door to look at the hovering holographic image over the jewel of a girl with long dark hair and a red ribbon adorning her head, sleeping seemingly in peace.

Out of nowhere, a woman's voice loudly says "_behind you Ail!_"

The moment he hears this, Ail turns around and is surprised, amazed and a bit frightened at the sight he sees.

Small black creatures with tiny clawed hands, thin legs with pointy feet, yellow eyes, and antennas on their round heads now surround him; a number of at least thirty of these things, all jerking or shaking their heads or looking around, acting as though they are harmless.

Ail can feel they are not as harmless as they appear to be, so without hesitation, he focuses for a moment and makes his bracelet glow brightly.

A Japanese sword made entirely of light appears on Ail's right hand, and not a second too soon.

Without giving much of a warning, several of the little creatures jump toward the boy, and being experienced in combat, a requirement of living in Gensokyo, Ail swings the blade of light sideways and dissolves at least five of the eight creatures that jumped him, while knocking away the other three.

Not waiting for them to attack again, Ail moves toward the group and swings his weapon while shouting "what are these things? What is happening here? And where is Reimu?"

The voice that spoke to him earlier doesn't reply, so as he cuts away three more of these creatures, he shouts "helloooo! Mysterious voice?"

No answer, and now one of the creatures has jumped from behind him and has slashed his back with its claws, making him flinch for a moment before turning around and turning the little creature unto dust with his weapon.

More creatures jump overhead, while three others turn to some sort of goop and start crawling around on the ground, and after taking care of the jumping creatures with one slash from his sword, Ail thinks "_they are small, easy to get rid of, but they are just too many! I may have to retreat for now and come back later with reinforcements!_"

Right before his very eyes, the very same creatures he defeated not a minute ago are already coming back.

Despair takes Ail, and without really thinking about it, he activates his Yozoragan mode, a power that aside from giving him a pair of ethereal dragon wings and turning his eyes into what look like a starry night sky, also gives him a boost of power, as well as other abilities, including the ability to duplicate his weapon of light.

He claps his hands to duplicate his weapon, and having two swords of light now, as well as being able to move faster, Ail waste no time and starts destroying as many of the creatures as he can, taking out five of them with each swing.

One of the creatures turns into a blob just before Ail's sword hits, and now is the only remaining creature around, so Ail tries to strike the ground while running above it, but nothing happens.

Annoyed, Ail shouts "come on out already, so I can kill you!"

The blob disappears from sight, as well as the barely-visible black mist left behind by the defeated creatures, but before Ail can even think he's won, he is surprised once more when he starts hearing some annoying and loud clinking sounds all around him.

Instead of the small creatures with antennas, Ail is now surrounded by at least twenty dark jagged-toothed creatures with a metal helmet on their heads, which have an odd swirl on its top.

Along with the helmet, these new creatures have blue skin, worn out purple kneecaps, black shoes with a swirled tip, wear a pair of metal gauntlets on their wrists, have long and sharp red claws, and all have an odd red and black heart emblem on their chests.

Ail stares at these new creatures and knows he's in trouble, and with a doubtful tone, he says to himself "oh, not good."

* * *

Immediately after the battle begins, Ail finds out he has to strike these new creatures at least four times before they fall, and the problem is that there are so many of them for just him alone, even with his Yozoragan mode activated.

But Ail is not ready to give up and flee just yet.

He is too worried about Reimu, Rika, and all his friends from the shrine, so he pushes on, taking out one monster at a time, yet realizing that he can't beat them fast enough to make any progress.

By the time he's defeated eight of these, four have already returned and are now attacking him in unison.

Two of these creatures start to spin around like tops in the air with a foot raised, and after successfully deflecting one, the other catches Ail off guard on the left, pushing him toward another of the creatures that is already swinging its dangerous claws around.

He manages to recover in time to avoid being struck by another set of claws and decides it is time to leave, even though his heavy heart begs him to try again.

He hesitates, and after showing this sign of weakness, seven of these creatures jump toward him, all ready to cut him to shreds with their claws, but a pair of thin piercing multi-colored beams destroy these creatures, saving Ail's life.

Surprised, Ail looks up to the sky to see Marisa Kirisame, the ordinary magician, and Reimu's long time friend, flying on her broom with a slightly annoyed look on her face above the shrine's gates.

She has long blonde hair that reaches to her upper back, has her right sideburn tied with a white bow into a braid, has yellow eyes, wears a large black hat with a white ribbon around it, a black vest with four golden buttons on the front, a white puffy-sleeved shirt underneath, a long black skirt, a white apron over said skirt, and has a pair of shiny black shoes with white socks.

With strong determination in her voice, Marisa shouts "clear the way, Ail! Love Sign, MASTER SPAAAAARK!" Ail flies away from the concentration of monsters the moment Marisa starts shouting out her signature spell.

Right after he is safely away, he watches with a smile as the large rainbow-colored beam easily destroys all of the creatures in one strike, and even those that are crouching down and holding on to their helmets for protection are done in.

When Marisa's powerful beam dies down, Ail takes notice that not even the black mist left behind after defeating these creatures remains.

After landing and taking a breath of relief, Ail exclaims "thank you so much! You saved my life!"

Marisa smiles as she lands on the ground in front of Ail, then quickly turns her brief smile into a serious expression as she asks "where the heck is Reimu?"

* * *

Ail and Marisa rush to the left-side entrance of the shrine's living quaters, and right after the sliding doors are open, both of them gasp with horror.

Inside the living room is the small table to the right of said left entrance.

To the right of said table is the familiar cabinet where Reimu keeps a few of her things, along with plenty of charms, amulets, needles, and anything else she may need for exorcising or punishing bad youkai.

On the wall to the right of the cabinet is a simple green scroll with ancient writing, which might just be there as an ornament.

To the left of the shrine, which would be the back, from the point of view of the shrine, is the kitchen, with all its cabinets untouched, it counters clean, and the stove shows no signs of being used that morning.

On the center of the room, blocking the opening to the rooms corridor, is the shocking sight of a translucent dark-purple crystal with three prongs on its top, and inside this large crystal is a sleeping girl.

Reimu Hakurei rests in the center of the crystal with her eyes closed and her legs crossed under her red skirt, as though in meditation. She has long dark-brown; almost black; hair that is adorned by one large ribbon on the back of her head, and two red tubes that hold her sideburns.

Through the crystal, her hair is looking raven-black, and her outfit looks like a weird tone of lilac.

She wears a red vest over a white sleeveless shirt, a pair of white detached sleeves, and a long red skirt, which looks kind of sickening lilac through the crystal.

She has her arms placed on her knees, and is holding her gohei on her right hand, aiming it diagonally to the left.

Both Ail and Marisa stare in shock at their friend, with their mouths and their eyes widely open, unable to believe their eyes.

Marisa gulps to settle her rapid-beating heart back into her chest, raises her trembling right hand where she holds her Hakkero, the item she uses to unleash her devastating Master Spark, and with a cracking voice, she say "I-I'm breaking her out of there. L-Love Sign-"

Before she can recite her spell, Ail tackles her to the ground, where she furiously thrashes about in an attempt to knock him off of her, but he pins her down, looks her in the eyes, and trying to sound as calm as possible, he says "if you do that, miss brainless witch, you are most definitely going to kill her."

Marisa tries with all her might to push Ail off, but his words suddenly reach her, then she calms down after gasping, then looks to the right in shame as she says "yo... you're right."

Without waiting for too long, Ail gets off Marisa and offers his hand in help after he's on his feet.

Right after standing up, Marisa gasps and asks "what about Rika? She might be trapped behind that thing!"

Ail realizes he almost forgot about Rika, so he panics and rushes to the wall beside the crystal and shouts "Rika! Rika, if you're back there, answer me, please!"

Marisa stares at him in disbelief and face palms hard when Ail looks at her and says "I'm breaking the wall down!"

Before he makes his move, Marisa smacks the back of his head as hard as she can, and feeling various levels of annoyance, she says "use your gaps, stupid!"

Ashamed, Ail chuckles sheepishly as he blushes while looking at Marisa, smiles, and says "erm, whoops. I, heh-heh, forgot."

Opening a bluish gap, a rift that breaks the borders of distance, into the rooms corridor, Ail and Marisa jump inside and quickly notice how dark it is, but neither is backing down.

They can see Reimu's back, and how she placed an amulet on herself, so sounding relieved, Marisa says "ohh, she's alright after all, ze."

Ail nods and replies "never doubted her for a second."

They quietly make their way to the room to the farthest right, which would be Rika's room, but other than her futon and some of her clothes scattered about, there is no signs of her anywhere.

As they turn around, Marisa says "well if she's not in her room, or Reimu's room... where is she?"

Making their way to Reimu's room to the left side of the corridor, Ail replies "I really wish I knew. Geez, what a terrible big brother I am."

Marisa chuckles as she pat his right shoulder from behind, then say "cheer up, you neglectful idiot. She's a big girl and can take good care of herself, so she's probably somewhere safe by now."

Ail seems to ignore the witch's remark.

As predicted, upon opening the sliding door to Reimu's room, they find out it's empty, save for the folded futon on the corner.

Rika has been in here.

The room is spotless, all of Reimu's clothes are in their respective places, the futon has been neatly folded, and the walls and the floor are just too darned clean.

Smiling almost too happily, Ail and Marisa say at the same time "oh yes, she's fine."

* * *

Somewhere over a vast, yet somewhat dark space, where bright starts, upon closer inspection, hold a vast world of their own, a single, oddly shaped, red and yellow-colored ship flies through this space at a rather slow pace.

The ship has a crystal dome cockpit on its top, a pointy red tip with a yellow tube on the front, blue and purple guns under the cockpit, two rockets on its back, four white wings, two on each side, and on the sides, it has what looks like fuel tanks painted in orange.

Another peculiar characteristic of this ship is that it seems to be made out of some rubbery gummy material, which would suggest the ship itself is weak, when in reality, it is quite the opposite.

Inside the ship, three strange silhouettes can be seen moving around the cockpit, apparently having some sort of conversation.

Inside the cockpit it is surprisingly spacious, and it's full of blinking buttons all over its white and silver consoles, a few flashing screens, and three, rather comfortable-looking white seats, and on these seats are three humanoid beings.

Gensokyo is full of humanoid creatures, but these three are different, as they retain more of their animal characteristics than the youkai in Gensokyo.

One looks like some sort of black dog with thin black floppy ears, large white eyes with black pupils, two separate buck-teeth at the bottom end of his long bare-skinned snout, a round black nose on the top end of said snout, and wears a pair of white gloves, a goofy yellow hat with goggles around it, a green, long-sleeved turtleneck shirt with a black sleeveless open vest on top, a pair of baggy yellow pants held by a black belt with a silver buckle, and a pair of long brown shoes with what look like metal protectors on the tips.

The other looks like a white-feathered duck with a large orange beak, a big pair of blue eyes with black pupils, and wears two golden bracelets, one on each wrist, a droopy blue cap with what looks like a zipper on its droopy tip, an odd deep-sea-blue vest with a blue capelet with yellow borders on top, small sewn-in blue bags around the vest, two zippers that seem to make part of an ornament, and has his bottom and orange webbed feet bare.

If it weren't for the feathered bottom, this duck could be considered obscene, but he's not.

The third one looks like a black mouse with rather large, round ears on his round head, and compared to the other two, this one's eyes look normal in size; white with black pupils, and most of his face is bare skinned.

He wears a rather majestic red vest with short black sleeves, which have a white border, and the vest's lower zipper is slightly open at the bottom, as well as having two yellow straps that hang from the shoulders.

Like the dog-like creature, he wears a pair of white gloves on his hands.

He also wears red shorts with zippers for adornments and yellow bag-like pockets, and wears a pair of big yellow shoes with barely-visible yellow straps adorning said shoes, crossing over the tips.

* * *

The dog-like creature sitting on the left seat, with a somewhat silly voice, asks "gawrsh, are ye' sure this is the right place, your majesty?"

The duck on the right seat, speaking with a raspy, squawky, and almost unintelligible voice, angrily replies "Goofy! Don't question the king!"

On the center seat, which is the main seat of the ship, sits the black mouse, who with a mousey and kind voice, says "It's alright Donald. He's right, I think we're lost."

There is a long pause and a moment of silence, save for the ticking of an unseen clock, and after a ting form this clock, Donald angrily squabbles and shouts "we should have bought uncle Scrooge's map!"

Goofy, looking quite relaxed, smiles as he cheerfully says "a-hyuk. There's no need to fret now, Donald. I'm sure King Mickey will pull through in no time."

Before Mickey has a chance to reply, Goofy leans toward the glass in front and squints his eyes, then points forward as he says "maybe it's that world over there."

Donald jumps off his seat and presses his face against the glass, looking all around with his eyes while saying "where? I don't see anything."

On the other hand, Mickey squints his eyes while placing his left hand over his head, then says "where? I don't see... wait, I think I see something."

Before Donald can spot whatever is it Goofy and his king can see, the ship rattles violently, and all three shout in surprise, Donald squawking loudest, seeing as he is out of his seat, and has flown above Mickey's head and crashed head-first on the solid gummy floor.

Goofy looks at Donald, places his right hand on the tip of his snot, then asks "gawrsh, are you okay there, Donald?"

Before Donald can reply, King Mickey loudly says "hang on! I lost control! We're going down!", and before long, the red gummy ship is spiraling down toward a small, unknown world; one we know as Gensokyo; with three screaming passengers on board.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Gensokyo, at the Human Village, an usually peaceful place where humans, and human-friendly youkai live, several battles have broken out in three separate points.

Over at the west side of the village, Kyo, Ail's long-time friend, Luna Rivers, Kyo's partner, and Medicine Melancholy, a sort of adoptive youkai daughter of Kyo and Luna's, are having a blast while dealing with the tiny black creatures with yellow eyes and antennas.

They fight right in front of a two-story house on a wide dirt road, and the only two neighboring houses beside said house are one to the left of said house, after a vacant spot with a lonely tree stump and several tall grass patches, and the other is in front, though separated by the width of the road.

Kaizo Yumeda, who prefers to be called Kyo, is a strong and buff young man with short, spiky black hair, intense brown eyes that give the wrong impression that he might be angry, wears a white muscle shirt with a navy-blue unbuttoned shirt on top, which has a silver zipper under the left breast, a pair of long lose black pants tied with a black belt strapped around his waist, with a black, sewn-in pouch on each knee, an open silver zipper on the left thigh, a pair of wooden sandals, and holds a steel Japanese sword with a hilt that seems to be on fire on his right hand, and a round white shield with visible wind circling around its edges on his left.

He stands firmly on the ground, cutting three of the creatures in half with one swing of his sword, and once his area is clear, he looks up and shouts "Luna, Medicine, don't take these things lightly!"

Flipping around in the air is Luna Rivers, whose real name is actually Katalina, but that's an old story now.

She has long silver hair with red highlights she ties into a ponytail with a small green ribbon that has a silver wing etched on each end, has a pair of black hairclips on each side of her head, bright silver eyes, and has a star-shaped birthmark on her right cheek.

She wears a simple dark-blue dress that reaches down to her knees, a pair of tight and stretchy white pants underneath that dress, has a lose brown belt with two sheathes for her swords, wears a pair of red geta sandals Aya, the tengu, gifted her some time ago, and holds on to a pair of blades with yellow hilts that fire multi-colored kunai knife bullets when the hidden trigger is squeezed.

As she flips around in the air, Kyo is left dumbstruck at the sight of his woman, kicking ass with such style, and after enjoying the sight of her tight white pants while she jumps around, he sighs and raises his shield in time to strike one of the black creatures on the face.

Luna notices he's looking at her, lands on the dark-blue roof of the two-story house, blushes, then shouts back "why don't you focus on the fight and leave the perverted thoughts for some other time?"

On the ground in front of the two-story house, a thick purple smoke cloud starts dissipating as the voice of a young girl can be heard shouting "take that, you disgusting little roaches! Oh, you want more? COME AND GET IT!"

From the roof, Luna shouts "Medicine, don't get cocky now!"

In the center of the poisonous clouds is a little girl with short blonde hair adorned with a red ribbon, has blue eyes, and wears a dark red puffy shirt with red strings that, oddly enough, connect to a chromed red cross on her chest, a blood-red puffy skirt with dark red strings that also connect to chromed red crosses around the bottom of the skirt, has a large white ribbon on her back, and wears a pair of pair of blood-red shoes with pink socks.

Flying besides Medicine is Su-San, a small doll that wears the very same outfit Medicine has, except for the fact that the colors are inverted, and Su-San has a pair of crystal wings growing from her back.

Though Medicine does look like a little human girl that somehow spews out poison from her pores, fingers and mouth, it is known that she too is supposed to be a doll.

Medicine looks up to Luna, smiles confidently, then says "there's only fifty of them left! This is cake!"

Kyo's shield comes flying from Medicine's left, flies around her, turning several of those creatures to dust, then flies back to Kyo like a boomerang.

Annoyed, Medicine shouts "hey, stop taking away my fun time!", then spews thick poison clouds from her mouth that turns each of the creatures around her into blobs that simply fizzles and vanishes from sight.

On the roof of the house, Luna jumps and flips around to avoid the remaining six creatures around her, and as she does so, she swings those sword with deadly accuracy, destroying those creatures with ease without harming the house.

After they are gone, Luna jumps toward the closest window, takes a closer look, passes her finger over the glass, then shouts "Kyo, darling, these windows need cleaning!"

On the ground, Kyo swirls in place with his shield and sword held tightly on his outstretched arms, defeating the last three monsters that were jumping toward him with their black claws ready to strike, then looks up to the roof and shouts "fine! After we check on Keine and the girls! Come on!"

Without another word, Luna jumps from the roof, and Medicine and Su-san fly out of the poisonous clouds, then all three rush toward the center of the village.

* * *

At the center of the village, there is a large building with what looks like a small tower with a golden bell in it, and in front of the building is the large gray statue of a dragon with jeweled glowing eyes, which are glowing bright red at the moment.

Around this statue are a few stone benches, various flowers that seem to have been trampled just a few moments ago, and a few scattered trees on the grassy spots that appear to be used for picnics and such.

A woman and a girl jump and fly around the large building while blasting away many annoying clinking monsters with metal helmets that seem to be after a particular little girl, who is being kept inside the large school while guarded by another young-looking girl.

This school belongs to Keine Kamishirasawa, which also serves as her home, and the girl protecting the targeted little girl is called Akyuu of Hieda, Gensokyo's chronicler whom is also known as the Child of Miare.

She has short purple hair she adorns with a flower ornament that matches her sleeves, and wears a kimono with a green torso and yellow sleeves that have flowers designed on them, a dark-red skirt, a wine-colored lace she uses as a belt, wears a pair of white socks, and wooden sandals.

One of the creatures gets close to the door before a stone spike strikes its head and sends it flying away, then Akyuu, after recovering from her fright, shouts "Keine, there's just too many!"

Keine, the woman with long silver hair with blue highlights, brown eyes, wearing a strange hat that looks like a building that defies gravity as she flips and flies around, a long dark-blue dress with short white sleeves, a red ribbon around her white collar, and pair of black shoes with ribbons on them, aims her finger at the same creature that got too close, ending its life and turning into dust with a blue laser beam that flies out of that finger, then shouts "Renko, I'll hold them off while you go get help!"

The girl helping Keine has short brown hair, brown eyes, should be wearing a black hat with a gold zipper on front that, unlike Keine's, couldn't defy gravity and lies on the ground away from the school, a red ribbon on her left sideburn, and wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with bands on her elbows under a small black vest, a short black skirt, and a pair of black shoes and white socks, flies upside-down as she summons more stone spikes form the ground and gestures her hands to send them flying straight at the monsters.

She flips to land on her feet after her stone spikes knock the monsters down for a moment, then looks at Keine and asks "but are you going to be alright?"

Keine fires several blue laser beams around Renko and finishes off the three creatures that recovered from Renko's attack, then shouts "go! The faster you move, the better!"

Gasping with shock, Renko settles her thoughts, nods at Keine, turns to the west, but just as she is about to move, she notices the jeweled eyes of the Dragon God Statue on the very center of the village are glowing intensely bright red, and this actually startles her to trip on her own feet.

Five of these creatures, making that annoying clinking sound, rush toward the human girl to finish her off.

Keine calls for Renko, but she's too busy with eight more of these creatures that threaten the school to manage to spare a helping laser for her friend.

Renko Usami has no choice now but cover her head and pray, and her prayers are quickly answered.

Before the creatures' claws can get too close, there is a manly roar, the sound of metal ringing against the wind, and all the creatures disappear from sight, leaving a pink crystal heart that flies off to the air.

Renko quickly looks up and sees Kyo rushing away from her side to aid Keine.

Luna runs toward Renko, kneels down, offers a helping hand, and with a smile on her face, she says "careful little lady. Showing weakness in the midst of a battle will cost you dearly."

Renko smiles back at Luna as she accepts the help, then says "I-I'll be more careful next time."

This cool moment for Luna is immediately shattered when Medicine comes from behind, jumps on Luna's head, then springs off towards the battle while shouting "move it slowpokes! There's a battle to be won!"

Annoyed, Luna grumbles while grinding her teeth, so Renko simply helps herself up, chuckles nervously, then says "we should help out."

* * *

Their help won't be needed. Keine and Kyo both take out these armored creatures with two blows each, and with Medicine poisoning the remaining twenty or so of these creatures, they are taking out two per-hit each, and before long, Medicine punches the last of these monsters between the yellow eyes and knocks it to the ground, turning it into dust after it hits the bit of grass.

After sighing with relief from inside the school, Akyuu exclaims "thank you Kyo! Keine, Amy is safe!"

From behind Akyuu, a small girl with short black hair tied to twin tails, wearing a brown baggy robe tied with a brown rope on the waist and a pair of small brown sandals, walks out of the school and towards Keine, bows down, giggles, then says "thank you very much for protecting me Keine-sensei."

Keine looks up to the sky and sighs with relief while rubbing her forehead with her right hand, then turns her face to the girl, smiles, and says "you are welcome. It is also my duty to protect my students, as well as the village."

Curious, Renko asks "but why were those creatures so interested in this little girl?"

Amy angrily shouts "my name is Amy, you big jerk!", then sticks her tongue out at Renko.

Feeling a bit ashamed, Renko blushes while looking away, then says "s-sorry", then remembers the Dragon God statue's eyes and says "oh, that's right! The dragon statue..."

Before she can say more, there is a loud explosion from the east, then Kyo and Keine, at the same time, say "more trouble ahead!"

Before Kyo moves out, Luna looks to the sky and exclaims "oh, what now? Look, up there!", and points to the south-east.

The three figures of Donald, Goofy and Mickey can be seen falling straight toward the spot over on the eastern side of the village, where the explosions are coming from, and a red sparkle can be seen flying from beside them and heading toward the Youkai Mountain.

* * *

Over at the eastern gate of the village, where there are plenty of houses sitting beside each other and between a large dirt-road, adorned by a few bushes on the ground and potted flowers on the windows, a woman and a girl fight with the two types of the now somewhat familiar antenna and helmet monsters, but accompanying those is another type of monster.

These have wings, and fly around like experts.

They have jagged-toothed mouths, pale-blue skin, large red claws, brown bat wings, have light-brown kneecaps, and wear a pair of brown shoes with blue tips, a brown aviator's cap with a propeller on its tip, yellow goggles around what should be the monsters' faces, a red and black heart emblem on their chests, and a pair of silver gauntlets on their wrists.

The ones fighting these creatures are Maribel Han and Mima, and even with Mima's help, they are being overwhelmed by the number of monsters surrounding them.

There are at least a total of fifty of these creatures, and although they are quickly dealing with them, the creatures just keep popping up out of nowhere to add more to their numbers, plus these flying monsters are no easy targets to deal with.

Mima, the supposedly evil spirit, has long green hair, green eyes, and wears a pointy blue hat with a yellow sun motif and a white ribbon around it, a blue cape with white borders over a long blue long-sleeved robe, has a white ghostly tail for legs, holds a golden crescent moon staff, and bears six thin demonic wings, three on each side of her back.

She uses red lasers, lightning bolts and fireballs to deal with the creatures, finishing them off in one blow each, but more keep taking their fallen monster comrade's places.

Frustrated, Mima shouts "stop regenerating, you little creeps! Pretty kitty, we may have to retreat!", while hovering just above the middle of the dirt path with her staff held sideways.

Maribel has short blonde hair, purple eyes, and wears a white mop cap with a silver four-edge star emblem hanging on the back by a red ribbon, a long purple dress with three white buttons, a sewn pouch on the left breast, a silver zipper covering a pocket on the right, has a white ribbon wrapped around her waist, which works as a pouch in front, and wears a pair of sky-blue socks with brown shoes.

She flies toward Mima, stands with her back against the evil spirit's, and replies "you may be right. I'm starting to get tired."

The annoying clinking sound of the helmet monsters warn the girls they need to prepare themselves for another assault, but before they can fly into action, they are reminded of the flying monsters when the whirring sound of their hat-propellers reach their ears.

Mima clicks her tongue as she glares up to the sky to her left, lifts her left hand, then shoots a magical fireball that explodes violently against the flying monsters, finishing off five of them and causing the remaining ten to scatter.

Maribel shouts "good one!", then she and Mima take flight to deal with the antenna and helmet monsters.

Maribel is immediately overwhelmed by at least a total of thirty monsters, while Mima, though facing about what she believes are forty or fifty, smiles as she fires three piercing laser beams from her fingers, finishing off a good number of monsters in an instant when the beams explode violently, yet more keep coming.

Maribel aims her open hands at her group of monsters, then pink and red energy hearts fly at them in great numbers.

Though it takes at least three to five hits to deal with just one, the amount of hearts shot by the girl are more than enough to deal with many creatures at once.

One of the helmet monsters crouches just before Maribel's hearts reach it, and manages to successfully protect itself from the impact, and to its luck, Maribel doesn't notice it.

Taking advantage, the creature start spinning around the ground like a top, with its claws and left foot spread, builds up speed, then rushes toward Maribel.

She feels something striking hard on her back, making her gasp and flinch, and that's when one of the flying creatures swoops down from her left and tackles her ribs, sending her flying against the nearby house.

Mima quickly notices this and turns her back on her enemies to call for Maribel, and that distraction is all these monsters need.

Five of the helmet, and three of the antenna monsters jump on Mima's back, knocking and pinning her to the ground on her stomach, and after she grunts and attempts to push herself up, she shouts "get off me! Dammit, you're heavier than you look!"

Mima watches with horror has more of the creatures surround and trap Maribel on the ground, and desperately calls for the girl while she, too, gets surrounded by the monsters, all eager to sink their claws into her back.

* * *

All the creatures suddenly stop, then look up the sky, where three faint screams get louder every second.

Before long, the bodies of Donald, Goofy, and Mickey, in that order, fall on the ground, Mickey's impact cushioned by Goofy's back.

Donald, however, took the full force of the impact, plus had his body used as a cushion for both Goofy and Mickey.

The king, being the first to recover, looks around and exclaims "Heartless!", jumps off Goofy's back, then summs to his right hand something that looks like a giant crooked key.

This odd item has a wide white hand guard that looks like a pair of wings held by a pair of circled stars that bend toward a white and yellow star that has a chain dangling from it, and at the end of this chain is a crescent moon.

Above the wings is a light-blue crooked blunt rod with white stars designed on it, a crescent, toothed end with a yellow crescent moon and star on the back, and to Mima, who has just managed to lift her head, there is a strange aura surrounding that item that seems to counter these dark creatures.

Mickey jumps toward Maribel and starts spinning around in the air while holding tightly to his weapon and generating a strange bright glow around himself that forces the monsters to run away, saving Maribel.

The second his feet touch the ground again, Mickey jumps again, this time headed toward Mima, then twirls around in the air, again generating this glow, and once close enough, the creatures scatter away from the evil spirit, but not before Mickey manages to strike one of the helmet monsters with this weapon of his, turning its body to dust and releasing a crystal pink heart to the air.

Mima immediately gets up from the ground, gasping with admiration at Mickey and his odd weapon, then asks "who are you?"

From behind her Donald squawks "no time for that! We have to get rid of these Heartless things!"

Mima looks to her right and sees Goofy, the dog creature, holding on to a round blue shield with a black motif on the center that resembles Mickey, the black mouse, and its adorned by golden bands that trace the motif and the shield itself.

To the left of the dog creature, Donald, the duck creature, holds on to a small black wand with a brown wizard's hat on its top, which seems to cover what looks like a blue robe that covering a humanoid's torso.

After looking at the strange guests, Mima rubs her chin while in thought, then says to herself "so these are the things are called Heartless, huh?"

Maribel runs to Mima, breaking her from her thoughts, then says "come on! We have to help them!"

Maribel runs past Mima and heads to join Goofy, while Mima simply smiles and says to herself "this is going to be an interesting day.", then flies toward Donald.

* * *

Maribel joins Goofy and assists him as they fight a horde of thirty of the Heartless; fourteen of the antenna creatures and sixteen of the helmet creatures.

While Maribel shoots her magical hearts, Goofy charges with his shield in front of him and smacks the Heartless as hard as he can, making a disturbingly loud clunk sound when tackling the monsters.

Mima and Donald find themselves surrounded by twenty of the helmet monsters, but neither looks worried.

In fact, both smirk almost too confidently before both unleash bolts of lightning; Mima's blue and Donald's yellow; that spread around a very small area after touching one of the creatures, taking out at least two per strike, and weakening about five more that stand close to the initial targets.

Mickey runs behind the left-side houses to confront the ten remaining flying Heartless, and although seemingly outnumbered, Mickey bravely faces them on with his odd blue and white weapon on hand.

Before the Heartless can attack, Mickey is already jumping toward them, twirling around with his weapon held tightly on his hand upon reaching them.

It takes several strikes to take one of these down, but Mickey moves so fast that he's taking out one every three seconds, sending those glass pink hearts flying away, and every time he strikes their bodies, crescent moon and star sparkles fly in the air and vanish quickly.

Two of the creatures behind Mickey rush toward him, raising their arm and readying their claws for a quick strike, but the mousy king drops down to the ground after taking out two more Heartless at the last second, making the creatures miss and crash their heads together when they are unable to stop in time.

Once on the ground, Mickey looks up at the monsters and watches as the two that attacked him recover, then join the remaining eight as they scatter around the air.

He raises his weapon and points it at the Heartless, frowns as he focuses, but the only thing that happens is that a white puff flies out of the tip of his weapon, making him look at it in confusion and wonder.

On the dirt road, Donald, Goofy, Mima and Maribel have joined their efforts, mixing in the remaining Heartless, which are about fifteen now, then Donald confidently says "I'll handle this!"

He raises his wand, squawks loudly, but nothing happens.

Mima looks unimpressed, and sounding disappointed, she says "seems you're out of juice, little duckling."

Donald scowls as he looks at the green-haired spirit, but before he fires off his mouth, from the dark-red roof of one of the houses, Mickey, holding on to a card on his left hand, shouts "declare your spell, like this! Fire Sign, Firaga!"

He points his odd weapon at the flying Heartless that are diving at him in a triangular formation from behind the house, then a massive ball of fire flies out of the tip of the blue weapon, flies fast at the intended targets, then burns right through the formation, weakening the last four that were spared from the flames.

Mickey jumps to the air to finish the job, while Donald turns his attention to the many antenna and helmet Heartless that are noisily running to him, then he squawks with surprise when a small rectangular blue glow covers his left hand.

Once the glowing stops, he sees he now holds a card with a picture of various yellow bolts of lightning, then chuckles and grins as he stares maliciously at the Heartless, raises his wand to the air, then shouts "Thunder Sign, Thundara!"

Just as the creatures jump toward Donald, Goofy, Mima and Maribel, several bolts of lightning strike down hard on the Heartless and turn most of them into clouds of dark dust.

Three of the antenna creatures remain alive, hidden as blobs on the ground, and when Donald confidently turns around to boast, all three creatures rise from the floor and rush toward the duck, tackling him on the head, sending him tumbling towards Maribel, and knocking both to the ground.

Goofy readies his shield, then from the right, Kyo roars as he jumps on the leader of the tiny pack, then swings his sword with might to finish off the last two with a slice, turning all three into dust in an instant.

Once the Heartless are dealt with, and Mickey regroups with his friends, Kyo looks back and asks "is everyone alright?", then looks at Mickey and his friends, and asks, "and who are you guys?"

* * *

After settling down, still near the eastern gates, Kyo, Mima and Maribel approach Mickey, Donald and Goofy, but before any question can be asked, from behind the houses to the right side, a girl excitedly shouts "wait! I want to kick some more black-thing butts!"

Medicine flies over the house with Su-San following after her, hurriedly lands between Kyo and the visitors, then frantically looks around while saying "alright, alright! Time get some medicine down those creeps'..."

After noticing there are no more monsters, she calms herself down, scratches the side of her head, looks up at Su-San who flies over her right shoulder, then asks "hey, why are the monsters gone?"

Kyo punches the youkai's head as he angrily asks "Medi, what the hell are you doing here?"

Crouching on the ground and rubbing her head while tears dangle under her eyes, Medicine looks up at Kyo with her left eye and a pout, and cries "you big bully. Luna sent me over here when I tried showing Amy how poison works. I wasn't going to poison her that much and she gets upset and sends me here like that, then you come and punch me. Idiot!"

Kyo face palms, points with his hand at Mickey and his friends as though presenting them, then says "settle down then. Our friends here are about to explain a few things to us."

Mickey chuckles nervously, but quickly settles down, then says "as I was saying, my name is Mickey, and these are Donald and Goofy, my most loyal friends."

Kyo, Medicine, Mima and Maribel bow respectfully, then Maribel asks "Mickey, Donald, Goofy, can you tell us about those creatures?"

Kyo quickly adds "we have all sorts of magicians, youkai and nut-heads here in Gensokyo, but these... things..."

Maribel quickly adds "I-I saw one of them doing something to the woman that lived in that house behind you, then something shiny came out of her chest and she suddenly turned into one of those things with antennas!"

Donald squawks to what sounds like an "awww", while Goofy gasps and sounding a bit frightened, he says "those Heartless fellas sound like trouble."

Mickey hums while rubbing his chin, then says "then it seems our crashing here was no accident after all."

Recovering his cheerful self, Goofy replies "a-hyuck, of course not your magest-" but Donald jumps on Goofy to cover his mouth, then whispers "Goofy, remember that we are visitors here."

Goofy gasps, then whispers back "sorry there. Won't happen again."

Mickey clears his throat, then says "those things with antennas are called Shadows, and they belong to what appears to be a wide variety of creatures called The Heartless."

Kyo, Medicine, Maribel, Donald and Goofy seem confused, but Mima looks interested, and seems to be thinking about something while pinching her chin.

After a pause, Mickey continues "I still don't know much about these beings myself, but I do know they are drawn to the darkness inside people's hearts, and once they tap into that darkness, the one attacked becomes a Heartless as well."

Maribel gasps, sweats while fretting about, and while holding her fists just below her neck, she asks "w-wait, does that mean that woman is d-d-de-...?"

Mickey looks away and says "I don't know that much yet. I've only just recently learned about these creatures myself."

Scowling, Donald adds "one thing's for sure. Those things sound like a real nuisance to me!"

Goofy nods in agreement while saying "and a little scary too."

Mima gets closer to Kyo, discretely points with her thumb at Donald, then whispers "hey, did you get any of that?"

Kyo whispers back "I was hoping you did."

After waiting for a bit before explaining some more, Mickey says "there is a large variety of these creatures, and the ones you faced so far are Shadows, the small ones with antennas, Soldiers, the ones with helmets, and Air Soldiers, the ones with wings. The only sure thing I understand about them is that they fear my weapon because it is one of the few things that can really finish them off."

Mickey closes his eyes to focus, summons his funny blue weapon, and before he can explain, Mima gets closer and startles all when she pushes her way toward Mickey's weapon.

* * *

Annoyed by Mima, Kyo asks "oi, Mima, what gives?"

Mima gasps, straightens herself up, with a loud poof, her ghostly bottom becomes a pair of legs hidden under her long robe, then says "oh my, how rude of me. Mickey, Donald, Goofy, I am Mima, magician extraordinaire, and those are Kyo, Medicine and Maribel. Now, I need to know... is that really a..."

Her eyes sparkle as she continues "a Keyblade?"

Mickey gasps in surprise, while Kyo and the others look quite confused, Kyo going as far as scratching his head while a yellow question mark appears floating above his head.

Mima turn her smiling face to her friends and says "let's test it out.", then turns to Mickey, grabs his Keyblade, then tosses it away, making it fall to the ground where it's tip stabs itself on the ground like a sword.

Mickey, understandably upset, exclaims "hey, what you do that for?"

To everyone's surprise, the weapon suddenly disappears in a flash of light, then appears back on Mickey's hand as though nothing ever happened.

Amazed, Kyo exclaims "whoa! That is one handy trick!"; Maribel exclaims "ooh, it's like he summoned it back!"; Medicine shrugs and says "eh, it was a string, I'm sure."

Mickey looks up at Mima and asks "and how do you know about Keyblades?"

Mima smiles smugly as she shrugs, then says "I've come across some pretty neat stuff during my time. I'll admit though, I've never seen a real Keyblade on the flesh. It's got some interesting energy wavelengths. It's like it's resonating with your own heart... mister."

Mickey nods in assent, calls off his Keyblade, then says "you can say this sort of unique weapon reacts differently to its owner, so yes, it should be linked to my heart in some way."

Kyo steps in to interrupt the conversation, then says "alright, enough of the Keyblades. What I really want to know is, why are these creatures here in Gensokyo, why are they attacking in such large numbers, and where the hell is Reimu? She normally starts taking care of these incidents after the second day!"

Mima gasps, then says "hey, you're right! I wonder what's that lazy shrine maiden doing right now?"

Kyo immediately asks "hold on, don't you live over there at the shrine?"

Mima giggles and smiles almost too innocently as she says "I've been sleeping under Maribel's bed these past few days."

Maribel yelps and exclaims "hey! So that explains my nightmares!"

Before Mima replies to that, Goofy points to the east, straight toward the Hakurei Shrine on top of the tall mountain, then loudly says "hey, uhh, look over there! Something funny's goin' on!"

Everyone looks toward the shrine and quickly notice some unnaturally dark clouds swirling above the shrine's roof, then witness when a massive black swirl of energy forms right in front of the large red gates.

Kyo sternly says "Maribel, you and Medicine go back to the school and stay with Renko and Luna."

Medicine complains "hey, who the heck do you think you-"

Before she can finish, Kyo turns around with a mighty furious face, an ominous under-glow, and in an ominous tone of voice, he says "I am not playing around. Go over there and take care of Luna!"

Medicine panics and salutes Kyo while trembling, then says "s-s-sorry... We'll be good."

Before moving out, Kyo looks at Mickey and his friends, and says "sorry to bother you with this, but seeing as you're the one with that Keyblade thing..."

Mickey nods, puts on a brave and determined face, then says "no problem. We'll go with ya and help as we can.", while Donald and Goofy look a little confused and nervous.

Goofy immediately adds "it's a good thing the king is here with us, or we would be in whole lot-"

When he realizes what he just said, Goofy covers his mouth with a goofy "oops", then Donald taps his webbed foot on the ground as he scowls at his friend

Kyo stares suspiciously at the visitors, then says "king, huh? You can explain later. C'mon! I'm actually getting a very bad feeling about that black thing over there."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine, Marisa walks out of the storage house at the same time as Ail walks out of the greenhouse, sweating as though he's walked a marathon under a scorching sun.

They look at each other with defeated expressions on their faces, then say at the same time "**nothing!**"

They get closer to each other, stopping next to one of Rika's training dummies, then Ail says "no clues about Rika, or about what happened to Reimu."

Marisa sighs, then says "and it seems Mima-sama hasn't been here for a while, so looking for her will lead us nowhere, ze."

Ail slumps, and while his arms dangle in the air, he sighs, groans, then says "man, this is turning out to be a very dissapoin-"

He suddenly straightens up, looks around the shrine like a frightened animal, then Marisa twitches and gasps. Ail looks at Marisa and asks "do you feel that?"

The witch shivers, then asks "wh-why is it getting so dark and cold?"

Deafening thunder that startles Marisa to jump on Ail's hands comes accompanied by a purple bolt of lightning.

Holding Marisa and shivering, Ail nervously asks "and what the heck was that?"

Marisa sees a glimpse of a dark swirl in front of the shrine, points forward, then shouts "more monsters!"

Ail places Marisa on the ground on her feet, activates his Yozoragan mode, summons the two long Japanese swords of light, then bravely says "they're coming for Reimu! We have to protect her!"

Out of nowhere, a woman's voice that speaks directly into Ail and Marisa's heads says "_that's a Darkside! You can't defeat it by yourselves! Get help!_"

Ail and Marisa look around in confusion, then hear a loud rustle coming from behind them, but nothing else.

Ail and Marisa look at each other with doubt, then Marisa summons her broom to her right hand and confidently says "someone is trying to scare us, but we won't fall for that! We must protect Reimu from this... Darkside thing!"

Ail's face fills with determination, nods at Marisa, then says "like hell I'm leaving now! Let's work together, and protect Reimu. She's already saved our butts plenty of times already, so it's only fair we return the favor!"

Marisa nods back to Ail and says "a perfect way to even the score", then both smile with confidence toward the shrine's front, Marisa sits on her broom, Ail readies himself, then both rush forth.

When they reach the front, both of them stop so abruptly, that even Marisa's broom skids to a halt in the air.

Right in front of the gates is a large black creature with a head full of tentacles, small round yellow eyes, a buff muscled torso and arms, small twisted wings on its back, short thin legs with feet that curl upward, and on its abdomen is a large hole that looks like a heart.

Both Ail and Marisa turn a bit pale at the sight, but almost simultaneously recover their brave faces, then rush forth, shouting with courage.

* * *

The moment Ail and Marisa get close, Darkside roars to the air and slowly swings its left arm in an attempt to swat Marisa out of the air.

Marisa rises to avoid its muscular arm, then proceeds to showering the monster with a barrage of multi-colored stars.

Ail runs to his right arm, jumps as high as he can, then swings his weapons alternately, swinging his right sword, spinning around to strike it again with the left, swings downward with the right, then finishes with a downward strike with both weapons.

Once back on the ground, Ail looks at his swords with confusion, looks back up at the Darkside, then notices how his, and Marisa's attacks are doing nothing to it.

Worried, Ail shouts "it's not working! We're not even tickling this guy!"

Without warning, the creature swings his right arm and strikes Ail on the side of the head with the back of it, sending him flying straight toward the donation box.

Marisa flinches when she witnesses that hit, then looks toward the creature, growls, pulls her Hakkero form her apron's right pocket, then says "oh, you're going down hard, you big snot."

The creature only stares at Marisa as she mouths her spell, then Marisa suddenly shouts "Love Sign, Master Spaaaaark!"

The familiar wide multi-colored beam consumes a good chunk of the Darkside, making it roar and lash its arms around as the destructive beam pierces its muscular body.

Confident, Marisa grins and intensifies her beam, having to hold her hat with her left hand so it doesn't blow away, but her confident grin quickly disappears.

The monster starts moving around as though nothing is happening to it at all. It raises its right arm, punches the ground, the ground gets consumed by a dark blob, its hand goes through that blob, then it immediately pulls his arm out and is now carrying a strange dark-brown energy orb that's surrounded by dark beams.

It throws the orb to the air, where it bursts and becomes many small violet and black orbs that rain down from the sky.

Marisa yelps, cancels her spell so that she can dodge the raining orbs, then shouts "Ail, some assistance would be appreciated!"

Ail runs straight toward the monster just as it rams its left fist on the ground, generating another dark circle blob on the ground where its arm goes through, this time summoning more Shadows to aid the Darkside.

Five Shadows are summoned by the time Ail reaches Darkside's arm and attempts to attack, but his swords of light do very little damage to it.

Ail growls, then finds himself fending off the five Shadows when one of them tries to jump behind him and strike him with its claws, forcing him to roll away to avoid being hit.

After defeating two of the small creatures, he looks up at Marisa and shouts "this is impossible! Marisa, I think we're in over our heads with this one!"

Marisa ignores Ail as she glares straight into the Darkside's eyes, then raises her right hand to fire a piercing blue beam from her Hakkero that goes right through the large monster's head.

The Darkside twitches, its eyes intensify, it moves its creepy curled wings, curls itself up, hugging itself with its mighty arms, then Marisa grins and says "heh, just needed to be softened up a bit."

It suddenly uncurls and sends a barrage of small, but fast and powerful purple orbs from the heart-shaped hole on its chest, that catch Marisa and Ail off guard.

Two of the orbs strike Marisa on her head and chest, making her groan before falling from the sky to the ground next to the hot spring, and being the worrisome fool he is, Ail forgets he still has one of those Shadows roaming about when he runs toward Marisa, calling for her in hopes that she'll reply quickly.

The Shadow rushes ahead of Ail in its blob form, rises from the ground, then strikes him on the face with a crude uppercut.

Ail tumbles backyard, placing his left forearm on his face, and that's when he fully understands the predicament he and Marisa are in.

He lowers his defenses, stares at the Darkside to his right, then at the Shadow that's approaching him from his front, then sighs, raises his right weapon, then turns around and rushes toward the large monster, thinking "_dammit, of all the times to goof up! I'm sorry Reimu, but it seems that the one time you truly need my help, I failed miserably. Hope you survive this, so you can scold this fool's spirit when you get back._"

As he thinks this, he reaches the monster and swings his right blade, this time making Darkside flinch, but even so, the damage done isn't that much.

What's worse, the little Shadow has caught up, so Ail turns his attention and left blade toward it, slashes it twice to turn it to dust, then the Darkside rams its right fist on the ground again, sending a dark shockwave that sends Ail flying on his face to the ground a few feet away.

* * *

Ail gets up from the ground and turns around as quickly as he can, only to watch as the monster raises both fists above its head to finish him off.

Ail sits back down on the ground and covers his head with his forearms, preparing himself for the worst, then, from behind the monster, the mousey voice of King Mickey comes loudly as he shouts "Ice Sign, Blizzaga!"

A large icicle flies through the Darkside's open abdomen and explodes into many large spreading icicles that damage the creature so much, it slumps and lets his arms and head dangle close to the ground.

Mickey jumps over the monster and starts spinning around with his Keyblade held with both hands when close to the head, striking the monster repeatedly and hard, and as soon as he touches the ground, the Darkside recovers and straightens up, but Mickey is already jumping toward its left arm and twirling around to strike it fast.

Ail manages to recover enough to sit up, but he is too amazed and simply watches as the battle continues.

Donald and Goofy come running from the monster's sides and Donald immediately shoots a small fireball from his small staff at the creature's head, making it roar as it bends back from the force of the impact.

Goofy starts spinning around with his shield on his right arm and strikes the monster several times on the left arm, making it fling off to the air.

Mickey is once again airborne and swinging his Keyblade fast and hard against the monster's right arm, and after an aerial thrust, the monster's right arm flings backward.

After that, the three humanoid creatures stop attacking, then walk toward Ail as though the monster is already gone, but the Darkside is still here.

Ail gasps and points back as he shouts "wait, it's still alive!"

Kyo suddenly flies from behind the creature with his own sword held downward with both hands, then thrusts the blade on the very center of the Darkside's head, making it stop in its place as a beam of light that, oddly enough, emanates from inside its head, slowly consumes the monster, making it vanish slowly, so Kyo pulls his sword out of its head and jumps down to regroup with his new friends before he falls off the monster's head.

Ail is left in shock and is unable to even think of something to say, so once Mickey gets close enough, he says "hi! You must be Ail, right? I'm Mickey, this is Donald, and this is Goofy."

Goofy raises his right hand and says a cheerful "howdy", while Donald just smirks.

Ail stammers for a moment, then Kyo loudly says "well, look at that. I'm saving your butt again, just like old times!"

Ail stammers some more, then points at the shrine's gates, which are now clean of any remaining darkness, then says "but I... Marisa even...M-Master Sparked it!"

From the left of Ail, all the way in front of the hot spring, Marisa exclaims "holy hell, that was amazing, ze! And with such simple spells too!"

Donald takes this comment personally, scowls at Marisa, then asks "heyyy, what do you mean '_simple spells_'?"

Marisa casually replies "just what I said! That fireball was a simple spell. Not very impressive."

Donald starts squawking unintelligibly while jumping in place and raising his left fist and swinging his right around, then, from behind the duck, Kyo places his hand on his face, and from behind **him**, Mima sighs and says "no, no. Just let them be. It'll be easier on your nerves."

Kyo looks back at Mima, then says "it's not that. It's that, she understood the duck."

Mima gasps with surprise, and simply scratches her chin while staring at Marisa with curiosity, then absent-mindedly says "maybe it was a mushroom."

* * *

To be continued...

Touhou-Project Shrine Maiden elements belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Kingdom Hearts elements belong to Square Enix and Disney Interactive

Ail, Kyo, Luna Rivers, Kimi and Kali, plus additional characters, were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami and Suzaku were created by Snapshot 2010

FEB 16 2011 (Updated FEB 28 2012 {DAMN I took a while})

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**First off, I hope this wasn't too confusing for you in the beginning, and I mean that where the Heartless are concerned. I am writing this at the point of view of the Touhou cast, so to them, they are these "creatures" at first. Aside from that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter for my first crossover.**

**I am trying as hard as I can, and more, with this, as I want both the KH and TH elements to shine, and I hope I achieve this. One very important thing I want to ask the readers is the following. I ask that for the first three or five chapters you leave a comment or review regarding this crossover. Depending on what you write, and how many visits and hits this fiction gets, I'll either cut to the chase and end this quickly, or continue writing and adding more elements and characters. This will include other worlds and Disney and Final Fantasy characters.**

**For now, I leave you and hope you have enjoyed this chapter. Take care.**

* * *

This chapter's new Heartless

Shadow - A common type of Heartless that, although is weak, always appear in great numbers, have the annoying ability to sink on the floor like shadows, which makes them invulnerable to attacks, and can be quite annoying... really.

Soldier - Second, most common type of Heartless. They can use their helmets to protect themselves from physical, and SOME magical attacks (in this fiction). They use both their claws and feet to attack.

Air Soldier - Not so common, but can be found in many worlds. Quite the agile little creatures, while in the air (which they keep to all the time). They either tackle, or flip-kick, and will also use their claws, though sparingly.

Boss Heartless - Darkside - The very first boss you'll ever face in the Kingdom Hearts games (if you play from the very first game, that is). This Heartless' strength and power can vary greatly, but it is generally quite strong. His most basic attacks are the purple homing fireballs from its chest, and the summoning of Shadows by ramming a fist on the ground.

(The idea for these list of explanation about the Heartless by Snapshot 2010)


	2. Chapter 2

It is late noon at the Hakurei Shrine, where a bunch of visitors; some local, three of them new to Gensokyo; look for any possible way to free the shrine maiden from her current prison, and learn a bit more from each other along the way.

There she is, inside that purple crystal with three prongs on its top, sitting with her legs crossed under her skirt and her eyes closed, blocking the way into the shrine's rooms; Reimu Hakurei.

Up to this moment, Rika is still missing, and although they are sure she's alright, her friends can't help but worry about her.

Ail stands in front of the crystal, aiming both hands at Reimu, bending his body, squinting his eyes, clenching his teeth tight, and groaning as though using great force.

Kyo stands to his right, while Mima, who has returned to her ghostly-legged self, hovers to his left, and Kyo, with great concern for his friend, places his hand on Ail's right shoulder and says "come on dude, that's enough. You're going to strain yourself."

Ail relaxes completely after expelling all his held-up breath, he breathes deeply through his mouth, then looks at Kyo and nods.

Mima smacks his back hard as she chuckles, and playfully says "so gapping her out of there didn't work. Big deal. Now you go rest and let me give it a whack."

Ail suddenly stiffens up, smiles nervously at Mima, but before he can say it, Mima says "don't worry, I'm not blasting this thing with Reimu inside. What do you think I am, a third-rate magician?"

Marisa sits by the table, next to Donald, and when Mima says those words, she grips her hat and lowers it over her face to hide her embarrassment from trying to Master Spark Reimu free a few hours before.

The exhausted Ail waddles toward the table, then drops on his seat in front of it, lets his head drop on the tabletop, then glances around at Marisa, who is sitting next to the open sliding doors to the left of the shrine, and Donald, Goofy and Mickey, who are huddled up, sitting next to each other while looking at several spell cards as though studying them closely.

Ail looks at their confused faces, smiles, then says "those are spell cards, used for turning battles into danmaku, also known as bullet hell games. They turn strong spells into somewhat harmless versions of themselves. Whomever wins a spell card battle gets to have his, or her demands, request, or whatever was it that was agreed upon before the battle, fulfilled by the losing party... With me so far?"

Donald lets out a long, soft squawk, while Mickey looks at Ail and says "I think so. What I don't understand is, why it is necessary to declare the spell."

Ail continues to smile as he raises his head from the tabletop and says "that's because Reimu thought that, with the spells being declared beforehand, there is no chance for either party to be surprised by any sudden spell casting."

Mickey, Donald and Goofy look at Ail with interest, then turn their heads to look at Reimu inside her crystal prison, then Anilan sighs and says "yes, she's the one that created this spell card system, and the reason why it's so concerning that she's trapped in there in the first place."

Mima suddenly groans while scratching her head, and sounding frustrated, she says "we're going to need someone with the same magical knowledge as I do over here. I can see and feel the magical aura around this, and can sense something, like some sort of signal entering and exiting this thing, but I just can't figure this thing out."

Marisa bangs on the table with her left hand and says "I'll get Patchouli over here. That book-filled brain of hers can help."

The black witch hops on her feet, heads straight outside, summons her broom to her lifted right hand, but before she even mounts it, Kyo says "oi, you're not going alone, miss."

Marisa turns a rather annoyed smile toward Kyo and says "hey, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, ze!"

Mima turns around to meet Marisa's face and says "young lady, the hunk is right. Please take mister Donald with you."

Marisa and Donald suddenly straighten up and dangle their arms in the air while slouching, and at the same time, they exclaim "NO WAY!"

The duck and the witch suddenly look at each other, scowl, then Donald asks "why should I go with that annoying girl anyway?"

Mickey looks at Mima's face, stares at her confident "I-Know-What-I'm-Doing" smile, then turns his head to look at Donald, and says "I think you two better do as she says."

Both Marisa and Donald say "**what?**" at the same time, stare at each other with another scowl and a frown, then both sigh in defeat and say a sad "**alright, let's do it.**", at the same time.

* * *

A few minutes later, after the two reluctant spell casters leave to the Scarlet Devil Mansion on Marisa's broom, King Mickey and Ail are having a conversation on the back of the shrine, while Kyo, Goofy and Mima watch with interest from the porch, drinking tea from Reimu's favorite tea set; large brown mugs she normally fills to the brim.

Mickey stares with interest when Ail summons a rod made entirely of light to his right hand, and observes how the energy flows from the bracelet.

Sounding disappointed, Ail says "even with this weapon in my arsenal, I couldn't defeat that large monster you call a Darkside."

Mickey touches Ail's weapon of light with the back of his hand, then hums while rubbing his chin and pondering, then says "your weapon is connected to your heart, just like Kyo's, only... there's something different about yours."

Kyo raises his right hand, summons his own Japanese sword with the flaming hilt, then casually stares at it while asking "hey yeah, how come my sword works like your Keyblade? You know, releasing those hearts and all?"

Mima chuckles, rests her head on Kyo's left shoulder, then says "you really don't get it, hunk?"

Mickey turns to look at Kyo, smiles, then says "this is only an assumption from my part, but the reason could be that your heart is already strong, and filled with enough light to deal with the Heartless' darkness."

Ail stares at Mickey with confusion while white question marks appear around his head, then he asks "what's a... Key...blade?"

Mickey turns around to face Ail, raises his right hand, and in a flash of light, his blue, crooked Keyblade appears on his hand, then he says "this is my Keyblade, Star Seeker."

Ail stares at it with admiration, then mumbles to himself "odd energy...", then activates his Yozoragan mode, startling King Mickey and saying "er, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you there. Please, let me take a better look there."

Mickey sighs to recover himself, raises the Star Seeker a little higher, and now Ail can clearly see a bright and colorful energy field surrounding the weapon, an even brighter beam of light inside of it, and watches how the inner beam of light enters Mickey through his hand and trails its way toward his chest, more precisely, his heart.

Fascinated, Ail stretches his ethereal dragon wings, startling Mickey into a defensive position, then points at the Keyblade and excitedly asks "can I touch it?"

Mickey looks at Ail quite suspiciously, so Ail, to calm him down, chuckles and says "I'm sorry, I should have explained. My abilities involve the opening of rifts through space and time, even though I'm not really _that_ good at it, AND energy manipulation, which is my specialty."

Mickey finishes for Ail, saying "oh, so you want to touch it to experience the energy for yourself. Then go ahead."

Mickey raises his Keyblade and points it at Ail, who looks as excited as a child with his new toy as he pokes its toothed end and chuckles.

* * *

Later that day, Marisa and Donald are only a few feet away from the Scarlet Devil Mansion island, when Donald suddenly breaks the long and awkward silence between them by asking "is it always so dark here?"

Marisa looks up at the small clutter of unnaturally dark clouds over the island, then says "well, the master of the mansion is a vampire, so she probably asked Patchouli to block the sun, or something like that."

Unimpressed and ignoring Marisa's explanation, Donald survey's the area from the sky, admiring the trees, flowers and bushes all over the island, then something catches his eyes.

Over at the left side of the island, there is a whole area of the lake completely frozen, and a good chunk of the island itself looking like a winter wasteland.

He squints his eyes after noticing something else, then asks "hey, what's that thing coming at us?"

Marisa looks around in confusion, but before she can see anything, an icicle twice the size of Marisa's broom flies right between the witch and the duck, knocking them both out of the broom to fall head-first to the island.

Both of them are lucky that gravity seems to have been altered, so they fall relatively softly and immediately stand up with their brave faces on, and their weapons, Donald's staff and Marisa's Hakkero, already on hand and ready.

Looking around the sky, Marisa loudly exclaims "that was Cirno! You pesky little ice fairy, COME ON OUT, so I can punish you!"

Donald scowls at Marisa and says "for once, I agree with you!", then readies a small icicle on the tip of his small staff.

Marisa looks at the duck and says "oi, I just said that Cirno is an ice fairy. She'll absorb that spell. Use fire, or light."

Just as Donald nods in assent, three more icicle appear from the sky, seemingly out of nowhere, forcing Marisa and Donald to split up, but long before they have a chance to even look for each other, green kunai knives and blue ice bullets rain down on them, splitting them further apart, forcing Marisa closer to the thawed lake end, while forcing Donald straight toward the miniature snowfield.

* * *

Marisa runs as though the devil itself was after her, especially after noticing those green kunai have a curse on them.

She screams with fright when she notices how each of the knives leave a black circle on the ground, then loudly exclaims "th-that's a death curse!", and starts running faster.

She stops right before plunging into the lake's shore, and just as well.

Hovering just above the water is a large fairy with golden wings, blue eyes, long green hair tied to a ponytail with a yellow ribbon to her left, and wearing a short sleeved white shirt with a blue dress on top, and no shoes.

Marisa looks at the fairy, frowns furiously, and whispers "great. I was frightened to death by a stupid fair... wait, what's that?"

Marisa takes a long, hard look at the fairy, then notices the fairy's eyes are empty, and a black aura surrounds her head.

Not taking her chances, Marisa summons her broom to her right hand, a pair of orbs, with stars drawn into them, that hover to her sides, and raises her left hand to point her Hakkero at the fairy.

Warningly, Marisa smiles while saying "Daiyousei, right? Say, why don't you fly away before I-"

Daiyousei raises her right hand, then eight Heartless appear; three Shadows appear on land and five of a new type of Heartless, named Screwdivers, appear on the water.

These have a head that looks like a sick green fish with a propeller for a back-fin, has its jagged-toothed mouth open to reveal a pair of bright yellow round eyes inside, has a green body with dark-green flipper-like feet, dark-green arms and claws, holds a mid-blue trident on its right hand, and has a black-heart emblem on its chest.

Marisa groans while staring sickly toward the Heartless around Daiyousei, powers up her orbs and Hakkero, and says "I'll take that as a _'no Marisa, I want you to totally beat me today.'_ Yeah, I suppose I can give you some Marisa, but only for today, ze."

Right after the first Shadow jumps to attack, both orbs to Marisa's sides fire green spear-like sparks at an incredibly rapid pace, knocking that, and the other two Shadows on their backs, then Marisa uses her Hakkero to shoot a thick blue beam at the knocked out Shadows, quickly ending their existence, leaving only a thin black dust in their stead.

The black and white witch smirks when she looks at Daiyousei, then aims her Hakkero straight at the fairy's face, but the five Screwdivers jump out of the water, twirling in the air and holding their tridents out in front, as though aiming to skewer the witch.

Marisa manages to jump back in time to avoid the attack, then has her two floating orbs punish the first two Heartless in front, while she prepares a spell.

The other three Screwdivers jump over their comrades to try and cut Marisa with their raised tridents, but before they even see it coming, Marisa shouts "Magic Sign, Stardust Reverie!"

She immediately sits on her broom and rushes toward the Heartless and Daiyousei, surrounding herself in a bright magical aura while trailing countless colorful stars behind herself, turning the Heartless to dust in an instant.

Daiyousei opens her empty eyes wide and gasps, then frantically waves her arms around to shoot more of those cursed green kunai knives to defend herself from the magical green spears and Marisa's trailing stars.

The witch takes off to the sky to avoid the knives, and when she's high above the fairy, she lets herself fall, pockets her Hakkero, holds her broom above her head, and when Daiyousei tries to run away, Marisa shouts "oh, do you think I'm letting you off the hook so easily? THINK AGAIN!"

When she's just a foot away from the fairy, Marisa strikes her with the brush-end of her broom, right before making a loud splash upon falling in the water.

* * *

Meanwhile, Donald finds himself rolling around on the snow and hiding behind large icicles to avoid being hit by a rain of smaller icicles and yellow orbs.

Above the field of snow is another fairy, this one with six icicle wings, three on each side, short blue hair adorned with a large blue bow on the back of her head, empty blue eyes, and wearing a long blue dress with puffy white sleeves and a white jagged border designs on the bottom, a red ribbon around her shirt's collar, and a pair of light-blue shoes.

Donald can see a black fire surrounding her head, so he assumes she is being posses, and so has kept using simple fireballs to try and subdue her, but he's growing weary of the battle, and thus, rapidly losing his patience.

From behind the large icicle, Donald shouts "hey, fairy girl! Stop doing that, or I'm going to squash you!"

As her response, the large icicles on the ground rise to the air, making Donald squawk in surprise, and now watches as all eight large icicles surround the ice fairy.

Donald lets out another disapproving squawk, then tries to run away, only to have massive ice pillars rise in front and all around him and the ice fairy, creating a large round snow arena. Without much though, Donald starts running around while shooting small fireballs at the fairy, and without actually planning it, his running around saves him from the shower of icicles that rain from the sky.

The fireballs manage to stun the ice fairy for a small while, but after she recovers, she raises her arms in the air and causes the icicles around her to rise above her head and spin clockwise fast enough to cause a magical reaction.

Donald fires another fireball at the fairy, but she lowers her left hand and creates a small round ice shield that protects her, and her voice echoes lifeless and dragged as she shouts "strooooonnnn... geeest... Youuuuu caaaaan't...!"

Donald squawks and runs closer to an ice pillar, then watches as the ice fairy lands on the ground, and how she now holds a large lance made entirely of ice and swings it around with ease.

Donald scowls at the fairy, then says "oh yeah? Let's see you try and get close enough to use that!"

He picks up a spell card from under his droopy hat, snickers while looking at the ice fairy, then points his small wand at her and shouts "Fission Firaga!"

From his wand, a massive ball of fire flies straight at the ice fairy, and when it touches the second ice shield she made to protect herself, it explodes and expands, and to Donald's surprise, it doesn't end there.

After the fire knocks the ice fairy on her back, Donald's wand starts shooting small petal-shaped fire bullets, and now he turns around and uses those fire bullets against the ice pillar right behind him, while smiling confidently, but with scowled eyebrows.

Before he's done completely thawing the pillar, the ice fairy thrusts her lance to the right of his feet, making him screech loudly in surprise and move away immediately.

Somehow, the small fairy with the empty eyes and the black aura around her head is moving fast, and thrusting her weapon even faster, sliding forward whenever she thrusts that thing.

While running toward the other end of the snow arena, Donald picks another spell card from under his hat and shouts "Fire Sign, Fira!", and from his wand, several mid-sized fireballs fly straight to the fairy.

She uses the ice lance to defend herself as best she can, but Donald's fireballs are relentless, and after blocking ten of the fireballs, the lance melts, then three more fireballs fly straight at the ice fairy and strike her on the chest.

Donald takes this chance, runs straight at her, ignites a small fireball on the tip of his wand, then smacks the fairy on the head, saying "I've had enough of you!"

Even though he manages to hit the fairy on the head and knocks her to the ground, his fireballs misfires, misses the fairy, and flies off toward the almost thawed pillar, knocking it down with ease and making it blow up as though it's been blasted by one of Marisa's beams.

* * *

From the snow that rises from what used to be the base of the pillar, a small girl's voice loudly says "Cirno! Stop fighting, please! Cirno!"

After that, another, more familiar girl's voice says "calm down. I'm sure she's just fine, da-ze."

From the source of the voices between the ice pillars, Daiyousei, the green-haired fairy, moves so fast toward her fairy friend, that when she kneels next to her, she kicks some snow on Donald's face while she slides to a stop.

Donald, of course, gets angry and exclaims "hey! What's the big idea?", startling the fairy.

Marisa calmly walks over to the duck, with her floating orbs blowing warm air to dry her dress up, and with an annoyingly confident smirk on her face, she says "well, Donald, you actually managed to beat Cirno. Congratulations, you're not as weak as you look."

She holds on to her chin while looking up to the sky and says "of course, Cirno is quite the weakling. I guess that's perfect for a simple magician like you."

Donald furiously squabbles incoherently while swinging his fists in the air, then Marisa replies "aww, pipe down. I'm sure you did great, but I'm just saying."

Daiyousei screams, both Marisa and Donald prepare for another attack, but watch in awe as a dark fuzzy orb flies out of Cirno's head, and speeds away toward the Scarlet Devil Mansion's second floor, phasing through the wall, followed by a second fuzzy black orb form the other side of the island.

Marisa gulps, and looking a lot less confident, says "so... I'm guessing there's Heartless in there too, huh?"

Equally unsettled, Donald nods in assent.

Cirno suddenly starts moaning, and to distract themselves from the mansion, Donald and Marisa turn their attention to the two fairies.

After sighing with relief, Daiyousei says "Cirno-chan, you're alright. Thank goodness."

Cirno lifts her head from the rapidly-melting snow, looks around, then asks "wh-what happened?"

Marisa immediately says "that's what I would like to ask you! Both you and you girlfriend here were surrounded by a black aura, like you were being possessed."

Donald takes a step forward and adds "and you both attacked us like maniacs!"

Cirno looks up at Marisa and Donald, but before she asks, Marisa says "that's Donald. A very simple magician."

Donald kicks Marisa's ankle, making her jump in place while holding on to her right foot, then Cirno suddenly says "something came at us from the mansion, and it hurt! Ugh, I want to teach them some manners. I am the strongest fairy after all... but why do I feel like I've been shot at with fireballs? I feel weak now..."

Donald chuckles nervously, and to his surprise, before having to explain himself, Marisa says "you just had a fight with us and lost. That's why. Now, you two keep out of trouble. Donald and I need to go check on the mansion."

Before Donald, or any of the fairies for that matter, can even speak, Marisa grabs that duck by the back of his shirt and drags him all the way toward the mansion, leaving Cirno sitting on the melting snow next to Daiyousei.

The ice fairy looks at her surroundings, turns her attention to her friend, then asks "umm, Dai-chan? What is this place?"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine's training ground, Ail has a squiggly rod made of light on his right hand; a failed attempt from his part to try and copy a Keyblade.

Mickey, who stands right besides Ail, face palms and sighs, then says "I'm telling ya', even if you know how it works, you can't just copy a Keyblade out of nowhere. A Keyblade is much more complicated than that. You have to earn the right to wield one."

Ail turns his weapon off, stares at Mickey, blinks twice, then asks "so maybe I should try making something LIKE a Keyblade, but not an actual Keyblade? Then let me try this..."

Before Ail activates his weapon of light again, Mickey replies "no, I mean... oh darn it, I don't know what I mean anymore."

Ail activates the light, but instead of a weapon, he summons the silhouette of a long-haired woman that seems to be stretching her arms behind her head.

Ail blushes beet red, turns the light off, then walks away from Mickey, who asks "Ail, what wasn't a weapon. What exactly did you do there?"

While Ail walks away and Mickey follows, they argue about that questionable image the boy summoned, and by the shrine's porch, Kyo has Mima resting her head on his shoulder while he talks to Goofy about Mickey being king.

Goofy scratches the left side of his head, just under his ear, while saying "well, the cat's outta' the bag, so..."

He leans closer to Kyo and Mima, and whispers "you see, we're from another world, but folk aint' supposed to know that. Uh, something about keepin' the world order. King Mickey is the ruler of our world, and a fine one too. A-hyuk, he's still trainin' to become a Keyblade master, but he's doing a great job at it already!"

Kyo whispers back "so how did you get here in the first place?"

Goofy covers his mouth, then whispers "gawrsh, I'm not supposed to say."

Before Kyo opens his mouth again, from their right, Mickey says "then allow me."

Mickey and Ail stand but a few feet away from their friends, surprising them all, even Mima, due to their sudden, stealthy appearance.

Kyo smiles mischievously at his friend, then grins and mischievously asks "so Ail, when are you going to stop thinking about Sanae and start focusing on making that weapon work right?"

Ail smiles while raising his right fist and flipping his middle finger at Kyo, but his friend turns his full attention to Mickey's explanations, ignoring Anilan's crude reply.

Mickey looks at Mima, then at Kyo, then says "we came here by means of our Gummy ship. We use it to travel from world to world, help out the locals deal with the darkness, then move on."

Mickey notices the looks of interest in everyone's face, then continues "we were sent here by my master when he sensed something wrong in this world, and he was right, but something interfered with the ships navigational system and we crash-landed here. Still, I wonder where is that ship now?"

* * *

Over the skies of Gensokyo, above the very clouds of white that caress the ground with their absent touch, two girls fly for their lives as the red and yellow Gummy ship flies straight at them, following them wherever they try to turn to, aiming its pointy tip at their butts.

The one on the right has short violet-blue hair, red eyes, and wears a black hat with a red ribbon that look like a pair of antennas on her head, a white long-sleeved shirt, a long black skirt that reaches down to her ankles, adorned with several open silver zippers on the sides, a pair of white socks and black shoes, and has a pink shawl with frilly red borders entwined around her arms and her shoulder.

Her name, is Iku Nagae, an oarfish youkai, and also a messenger of the dragons.

The one on the left has long blue hair and dark-red eyes, and wears a black hat with peaches seemingly clipped on to the sides, a pink shirt that reaches down to her thighs, with colorful bits surrounding the bottom of it, a long blue skirt that reaches just above her ankles, ties a large sky-blue bow around her waist, and wears a pair of brown cross-laced boots on her feet.

Her name is Tenshi Hinanai, a celestial, and a nuisance to almost everyone down in Gensokyo, save for a handful of friends.

Iku looks to Tenshi with tears dangling from her eyes as she cries out "miss eldest daughter, what do we do now?"

Tenshi looks back and opens her eyes wide when she sees the red crewless ship right behind her, then shouts "let's split up again!"

Iku grabs Tenshi's shoulder before she's out of reach, then angrily says "no way! You let that thing chase me around for hours before and didn't help!"

Tenshi desperately cries "wait, Iku, don't slow down or it's gonna- **PHLEG!**"

Before she can finish her sentence, the red Gummy ship flies through the two girls, running over them and sending to separate spots on the clouds, then continues on its way, flying aimlessly while seemingly searching for its crew.

Back down at the Hakurei Shrine, Mickey stops wondering about the ship, then turns his attention to Kyo and Ail, then says "say Kyo, why don't you show Ail how your weapon works? It might help him emulate something that could defeat those heartless."

Kyo looks to his friend, Ail looks back, then Kyo nods and says "sure. As long as it helps."

Ail suddenly twitches, looks around as though seeing the shrine for the first time, then asks "I just got the strangest feeling that something's just not right..."

Mima smiles, and contently says "ah, then things are going as they always do. That's good."

Both Kyo and Ail stare in disbelief at the evil spirit, while Goofy and Mickey look at each other and shrug, obviously unsure of that their friends are saying.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, the front door to the mansion's foyer slowly opens up, making an unnecessarily loud and long creaking sound, then the door stops half-way through.

Marisa peeks her head inside the mansion, then whispers "looks safe enough."

Donald peeks his head below Marisa's and glances up at the witch, then says "let's just get inside and do this quick."

Marisa nods and says "I agree, ze. Let's get in and out of the creepy as fast as we can."

Both characters pulls their heads back outside, the door fully opens up with a bang, there is a long pause, then suddenly Donald screams while Marisa shouts "alright, you go in first!"

Donald flies inside the mansion by force and falls on his chest on the large red carpet with yellow wave designs on its borders, sliding on said carpet until his beak bumps against the first step to the stairs leading to the next floor.

Marisa casually walks inside, closes the door behind her, then says "hey, get up already."

Donald suddenly springs to his feet, squawks incoherently, and jumps on Marisa, knocks her on her back, grabs her cheeks, stretches them as far as he can, then angrily asks "why did you throw me in here like that, you talentless fiend!"

Marisa scowls at Donald and manages to reply "hash to make sure ish wah shafe!", then grabs the side of Donald's beak and starts stretching his face as well.

Suddenly, just as they started fighting, they stop, and now Donald looks around himself and awes with admiration.

He jumps off Marisa and looks up to the stairs, admiring the clean scarlet carpet trailing up to the next floor.

To the right of the stairs, after an amazingly tall ornamental archway, is one long and dark corridor lit by what little light enters through the few windows in sight, and a few dim lamps on the walls.

Back in the foyer, between the stairs and said corridor, is a dark archway that seems to lead down to a what should be the basement.

No light can be seen from inside, making it a little creepy, but the green plants in the golden pots stationed on twin wooden pillars between the archway makes it look a little more civilized.

To the left of the stairs is another archway similar to the one on the right, and this one leads to yet another corridor, but this one has more windows, allowing in more of the dim light from outside, and the same number of lamps as the corridor to the right.

As Donald looks around, he notices the ceiling is adorned by a large gold chandelier that hangs so high up, he wonders how do they manage to clean it so neatly, and that's when he realizes something, and asks "say~! Isn't this place bigger than it looked from outside?"

Marisa chuckles, then says "there's someone that works here that loves messing with space and time."

As Donald finishes admiring the mirror-polished pink marble floors, he hums, then says "it's impressive, but our castle has more light than this."

Marisa shrugs, then says "hey, I told you. The master of this mansion is one temperamental and bratty vampire. Her name's-"

Six black orbs appear right in front of the stairs, making a loud whoolsh noise, and now they have six Heartless flying in a wall-like formation in front of them.

They all have a smooth conical bodies with jagged collars, conical yellow hats with jagged edges and twisted thin tips, a pair of thin toes that look more like little bid claws, a round black head with yellow eyes, and have a black heart emblem on the chests.

The two on top are red colored, called Red Nocturne, the two in the middle are blue colored, called Blue Rhapsody, and the two on the bottom are yellow colored, called Yellow Opera, and all suddenly break their formation as they start to fly around Marisa and Donald.

The Yellow Opera move around annoyingly erratically, and quite fast, the Red Nocturnes move slowly and smoothly, but keep far away from the two magicians, and the Blue Rhapsodies move at a moderate speed, and keep as far away from the Red Nocturnes and Donald as possible.

Marisa summons her broom and her two floating orbs and shouts "COME ON THEN!", while Donald is already casting Thunder on the Blue Rhapsody in front of him.

* * *

The yellow bolts of lightning hit their mark, but the yellow Heartless get in the way and literally absorb the spell, making Donald squawk angrily and shout "these yellow ones absorb electricity!"

Marisa angrily replies "oh yeah? Well the blue ones absorb ice!"

A red and blue Heartless seem to team up and attack Marisa and Donald at the same time, hitting Marisa on the chest with ice, and Donald on he left arm with fire, forcing them both to stumble against each other's backs.

Marisa grits her teeth as she says "dammit, we'll have to get rid of blue ones at least!"

Both Marisa and Donald suddenly jump to their left to avoid a spark that forms up above their heads and shoots a lightning bolt on their heads, and although it missed them, they feel a bit disoriented as they get back up.

Marisa shouts "dammit, I never expected the mansion to be invaded by these things! Bah, I'll just spark them to death and get this over with!"

Donald shouts "hold on, I think I got something to deal with these!", then jumps on his feet, gets closer to the two yellow Heartless, raises his wand, and a black orb appears right on top of the two little creatures, flattening them on the ground as the orb itself flattens.

Marisa smirks at the sight, rushes other to the Heartless, then uses her broom and green sparks to take advantage of the flattened state of those Heartless, and finally manage various hits, turning them to dust.

Marisa turns around and flips a thumb-up at Donald, but two icicles strike her right hand, making her scream in pain.

Donald squawks furiously, turns around, and shoots a quick fireball at one of the Blue Rhapsodies, making it explode after one shot.

Still angry and a bit surprised, Donald says "the opposite element is their weakness!"

Marisa groans while she holds her arm, but she hates nothing more than to play the delicate damsel, so she fakes a grin, raises her right hand, gives Donald another thumbs up, then spots one of the red Heartless behind Donald.

She points at the duck and rapidly gestures her hand to the right, Donald jumps to the left, then Marisa's orbs shoots rapid icicles at the Heartless.

The Red Nocturne flies up and tries to fly away, making Marisa miss it, but just barely.

The foolish creature rejoins its red companion, stops moving, then Marisa grins and chuckles when her rapid-firing icicles smack those Heartless hard, explode on contact, and turn those red creatures to dust in an apparently-painful way.

Now there's only one remaining Blue Rhapsody left, and Marisa is feeling a whole lot better from her injury, so she and Donald exchange wicked and confident grins, turn to face that Heartless, making it sweat with fear and try to run away, then Marisa fires a star from her finger, and Donald a fireball from his wand, the two spells combine in mid-air, creating a fire-covered spinning star, and the poor Heartless explodes just before the flaming star hits its head.

Once the room is clear of Heartless, Donald and Marisa hold hands and jump in place, cheering and celebrating their victory, and while jumping around, Donald exclaims "and we didn't need your super destructive laser thing!"

Before Marisa replies, she and the duck notice they are currently holding hands, then both quickly pull their hands away, turn away from each other to hide their embarrassed blushes, cross their arms over their chests and tap their left feet on the ground, then awkwardly mumble some impossible to understand words.

After their awkward moment ends, Marisa gestures her right hand so that Donald follows her, and says "come. Patchouli's library is this way."

Donald nods and begins to follow the witch to the dark door leading downward, unaware that there are two more Red Nocturnes hiding behind the archway to the left corridor.

The two Heartless move stealthily in the air, position themselves high above the pair, prepare a fire spell each, and a spear of ice runs them through from behind, turning them to dust in an instant.

Donald and Marisa turn around after hearing the Heartless and the large ice lance explode, then they find Cirno flying towards them from an open window over the corridor.

The ice fairy points at the magicians, then boastfully says "you two pathetic things need help from the strongest fairy, so here I am! I normally would just let you get squished, but today, my goal is to get revenge on these black things! You should consider yourselves lucky!"

Marisa and Donald look at Cirno with surprise, and all Marisa can say to that is a surprised "C-Cirno! What the heck?"

Cirno's cheeks turn pink, then she crosses her arms over her chest and asks "wh-what? That black fire hurt! I just want payback!"

* * *

Moments later, the trio find themselves running through the dark basement corridor while being followed by a ridiculous number of Heartless, Blue Rhapsodies taking the larger number in the ranks.

While running, Cirno manages to turn around, lift her right arm, spread her hand open, and shoot countless little icicles at the Heartless from her fingertips, managing to slow down a few Soldiers and Shadows, but the Blue Rhapsodies absorb her bullets before they can make a bigger impact.

Frustrated, Cirno grunts as she turns around again, then shouts "just blast them like you usually do, Marisa! I can't have my revenge while running away like this!"

Marisa is ahead of the trio, holding her hat while running and panting, then says "there's too damned many right now! We need backup!"

Cirno boastfully shouts "HEY! I'm a good backup!"

Donald quickly shouts "either come up with a plan to get rid of all of them, or RUUUUUN!"

Cirno quickly replies "I can't understand what you just said!", but regardless, speeds up her pace.

After passing by several doors, which lead to the servant's kitchen, rooms and baths, they reach a pair of large red rectangular doors adorned with gold strings that make the impression of having a heart on the center of each door, surrounded by swirly golden grass.

Marisa gasps excitedly, and exclaims "there it is! The library! We're saved!"

Marisa bursts through the door, followed quickly by Donald, then Cirno, and right after entering, they can hear a soft, and calm voice, saying "and she actually brought them here!"

Marisa shouts "Donald, fairy, JUMP!"

Marisa and Donald jump to the left, behind a large bookshelf filled to the top with books, while Cirno stops running, looks around herself, places her finger under her lip, then asks "jump? Why?"

The little ice fairy screams when she realizes she is now between a wall of earth-element bullets in front, and the large group of Heartless behind.

Her reaction is to duck and cover while trembling and listening to the Heartless and the bullets colliding over her head, and at the same time wondering when she will be hit.

The noises stop, Cirno slightly opens her left eye, and when she realizes she's now safe, she stands up and boastfully says "hah, piece of cake! Those things never stood a chance.", but is unable to stop the violent shaking of her legs.

Marisa comes out of hiding, angrily saying "you stupid little fairy, you almost got yourself killed!"

Cirno recovers herself and angrily shouts back "hey, don't call me stupid! And my name is Cirno!"

While the little fairy and Marisa argue, Donald walks out of hiding while looking all around himself with his beak wide open, and his eyes running all around his head.

Books, books, and more books, and even more books make up the walls, the ceiling, and even the floors of this library.

Almost three floors filled with bookshelves, and these are filled with books of all colors and sizes, though there are some gaps, probably some of those Marisa 'borrowed', but Donald doesn't know that.

As he looks around in awe, he walks over to Marisa and Cirno, and that's when he notices the most beautiful magical creature he's ever laid eyes on, even daring to think she's as beautiful as his sweetheart back home, Daisy Duck.

This beauty has long purple hair tied with a fuchsia ribbon on the left sideburn, and a light-blue ribbon on the right one.

She has purple eyes, and although seemingly tired and unfriendly, to Donald they seem to burst with glistening light and life.

On her head, she wears a cutest pink mop cap with what seem to be hair buns on both sides of her head, tied with ribbons; fuchsia to the left, and light-blue to the right, and a golden crescent moon on the front.

Finally, she wears what looks like a long pink sleeping robe with a purple and white vertical-lined pajamas, and a pair of lilac shoes that make her look as though she's ready to go to bed, and sleep.

She has a few more of those ribbons scattered around her robes, and even has a light-blue one on her left shoe, and a fuchsia one on her right.

Donald can also see the pure and powerful magical aura around this girl, making her even more appealing to him.

Patchouli Knowledge sighs to calm herself down, and with the most soft, angelic, and unfriendly tones of voice, she asks "so, what brings you here, Marisa? Come to steal more books? Oh..."

When she notices Donald, the duck has massive pink hearts for eyes, his beak wide open, his thin tongue slipping to the left side of his mouth, drool dribbles to the ground, and he holds on to his hard-beating chest with both hands.

Patchouli looks at Marisa, points at Donald, then asks "and who is this? His magical aura is most impressive."

Marisa stares at Patchouli with great annoyance, clicks her tongue, crosses her arms over her chest, but doesn't immediately reply.

* * *

A few minutes later, Cirno, Marisa, Patchouli, and the love-struck Donald are in the center of the library, where they are surrounded by even more large bookshelves riddled with books, and stand on a green carpet that seems to cover the entire library, and where it is actually darkest in the whole room, though this does not prevent Donald from locking his eyes on the purple-themed magician cutie.

There are also several desks in the area, each in front of a bookshelf, and all littered with books on various subjects.

The purple-haired magician slowly makes her way toward one particular desk, where she has an open book with the picture of a Soldier Heartless on its left page.

She sits on the wooden chair behind said desk, rests her elbows in front of the book on the desktop, then looks at Marisa and says "well, that explains why the fairy and mister Donald are here, but that doesn't explain why YOU are here."

Marisa grins viciously at Patchouli, then says "I came here on Mima-sama's request; end of story!"

Before Patchouli asks again, Donald says "we came here to request your help in figuring out a way to save her friend, Reimu. Please, miss Patchouli, grace us with your beauty and knowledge. Help us free this girl."

Donald bows gentlemanly at Patchouli while voicing his request, but the magician doesn't seem too affected by this, and while staring drily at the duck, she says "I don't really like leaving the library unattended, but..."

From the darkness of the ceiling comes another girl, this one with long red hair and red eyes, a pair of bat wings on her head and back, and wearing a black vest over a long-sleeved white shirt, a black skirt with a white stripe surrounding the lower edges, and wearing a pair of small white socks and black shoes.

The left side of her face is covered in blood, and most of her outfit is in tatters.

She hurries over to Patchouli, ignoring the guests present, then falls on her knees in front of the desk, breathing hard through her mouth while trying to speak.

The purple magician lifts herself just slightly to look at the little devil's head, then calmly asks "what is it?"

Koakuma raises her head, then exclaims "the mistress needs help!"

Right on cue, after saying those words, a young girl's furious screams echo all over the mansion, then comes accompanied by a powerful roar.

Marisa, Donald and Cirno look at each other and shout "**more Heartless!**", at the same time.

Patchouli exchanges glances between the three, then picks up her book and says "come. Let's go to her before she lures that thing here. I don't want any harm to come to my books."

Marisa face palms hard, then groans and says "jeez, you and these books. You know, sometimes I-"

Donald interrupts Marisa by swinging his fists in front of himself, and loudly saying "come on! Miss Patchouli's books are at stake! Don't make me drag you to battle!"

Marisa stares lasers at Donald, Patchouli actually smiles and giggles, making Donald completely ignore the blonde to stare at the librarian to blush, and Koakuma and Cirno get closer to each other, then Koakuma asks "what did he just say?"

Cirno's response is one extremely confused shrug, and a shake of her head.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Scarlet Devil Mansion's ball, or party room, two girls fight with an never-ending number of Heartless.

The dimly lit room is quite expansive, and should have many tables and chairs set in front of a small stand that has a large red curtain currently open from both side, and tied by a glittery red rope on the middle of said curtains.

On the ceiling's very center, there is a large golden chandelier with prism droplets dangling from the tubes in precise location so that it looks like a prism rain, and a glass center that emanates a dim light.

Now all the table and chairs are either broken, or thrown all the way to the walls of the large room, leaving the expansive polished wooden floor bare.

The room itself is not without its damages, as the walls are riddled with claw marks, knives, debris from the tables and chairs, and blots of dark dust that looks like burn marks from explosions.

The floor is surprisingly undamaged, but its covered in black dust left behind by the many slain Heartless.

One of the girls in the room, a maid who fights by throwing knives that never seem to end, has short silver hair with braided sideburns that are tied with small green ribbons, has dark blue eyes, and wears a dark blue maid's dress with an apron over the skirt, a black lace on the collar, a short-puffy-sleeved white shirt underneath her dress, a pair of black calf-high cross-laced boots, black fingerless gloves, and has knives sheathed around her right thigh, on a brown leather belt.

By now, the maid's dress is in tatters, it's missing the left sleeve, her skirt has a large uneven tear on the left side, and the poor girl looks exhausted, though she continues to fight.

The other girl looks like a young child with black vampire wings, scarlet eyes with slit black pupils, has short light-blue hair she adorns with a pink mop hat, which is adorned by a red ribbon tied to the right, a golden cross hanging from the ribbon, and wears a pink dress with a large red ribbon tied around her waist, a green oval jewel on her bosom, and a pair of cute little pink shoes with frilly pink socks.

The vampire girl is completely undamaged, and seems she is the one who's done most of the room's current damage with her powerful claws.

Sakuya Izayoi, the maid of Remilia Scarlet, and the just-mentioned mistress of the mansion and self-proclaimed Queen of the Night, continue to fight with all their might against the innumerable amount of Shadows that keep popping out of nowhere.

Sakuya looks tired and about ready to fall, moving about clumsily while flailing her arms to throw more knives, but Remilia looks fresh, ready for more, and quite annoyed at her unwanted guests.

The small, but powerful vampire slides across the room like a blur, clawing the Heartless and turning them to dust, then stops for a moment to look behind herself at Sakuya, and shouts "do NOT fall to these things, Sakuya! That's an order!"

Sakuya holds her golden pocket watch on her right hand, floats elegantly over the ground, raising her left leg while concentrating, then suddenly disappears just as six Shadows jump at her and swing their claws, hitting some game cards left behind by the maid in her stead.

Sakuya reappears next to Remilia, panting lightly while holding her chest, then bows at her mistress and says "I would never allow myself to disgrace this house in such a manner, my lady."

Remilia smirks after Sakuya's assurance, then darts away after the Shadows that attacked Sakuya, and in two swipes of her claws, she turns those Heartless into nothing more than a memory.

Sakuya now faces fifteen more of the little monsters in front of herself, standing between her and the small stand, but not giving them the chance, she pulls a spell card form her apron and shouts "Scarred Soul, Soul Sculpture!"

Her dark-blue eyes turn red and start glowing, the maid starts hovering five feet off the ground, then she starts moving her hands around so fast, her knives leave a red beam in their path that spreads around a large area, and for three seconds Sakuya continues her attack, then stops, drops to the floor, arranges her hair, looks at the black dust left behind by the Heartless, then sighs and says "phew, so many cockroaches in this room. I'll have to have a word with the fairies!"

Even though Remilia and Sakuya easily rid themselves of the Shadows, the little monsters keep appearing like nothing, and by now, Remilia is screaming furiously while destroying these creatures.

There is another girl's scream coming from the left-side corridor, then Sakuya looks worriedly toward the door and exclaims "my lady, Meiling is in trouble."

Remilia growls and says "that useless gate guard!"

* * *

The door to the left side of the room burst open, and in comes flying a woman with long scarlet hair, with her left aquamarine eye is slightly open, and her right eye is closed and covered in the blood that comes from her head.

She wears a green beret with a star that has the word "Dragon" written on it, a Chinese green vest and skirt with a slit on the left and right side of said skirt, a short-sleeved white shirt underneath her vest, long white pants under her open skirt, and is supposed to be wearing a pair of black slip-on shoes, but currently only has one on her right foot.

She flies all the way from the door to the other end of the room, where Sakuya seems to teleport to in order to catch the flying girl, and exclaims "Meiling, what the hell did you do now?"

Meiling trembles as she lifts her bloody head to the maid, and smiles as she weakly says "sorry miss Sakuya-san... Too many... and he... too strong.", then lets herself drop unconscious on the floor.

From the open door, eight Air Soldiers rush through, five more Shadows appear on the small stage, and now Remilia furiously screams to the ceiling, her scream followed by a powerful roar for the second time that day.

Remilia is already flying through the air and clawing away at the Air soldiers, which take at least two claw swipes to destroy, but for the vampire, this is nothing, and finishes all eight in what seems to be a mere two seconds.

Remilia stops moving after the last Air Soldier is dealt with, then bends down to dust her knees, unaware of the two Shadows jumping at her from behind.

She places her left hand on her waist, then a pair of silver knives run right through the Heartless' heads, turning them to dust quickly.

Remilia looks over to her maid and fainted gate guard, then smirks and says "good work, Sakuya. Take care of Meiling. I want to properly chew her out when she wakes up. She's stronger than this!"

After saying this, Remilia turns around and swipes her claw at the three remaining Shadows, managing to strike even the one turned to a blob on the floor, then Sakuya nods at her mistress and says "as long as it is done properly, my lady."

Remilia and Sakuya exchange a quick smile, but those smiles rapidly vanish when a massive purple flame enters the ball room and just hovers casually in the center of the room.

The vampire mistress frowns at the sight and stretches her fingers and claws, then says "creeps, you are all so damned annoying!"

The large purple frame seems to take the shape of a beast, but disappears from sight before Remilia or Sakuya could make out its shape.

The girls can hear the heavy thud from its footsteps, but neither can make out where they are coming from, and just like that, the thuds stop.

Remilia is about to ask Sakuya to stop time and find that thing, but before she can do just that, Sakuya yelps and is sent flying backwards with Meiling, then she smashes the wall with her back, then has Meiling flatten her against that very wall.

The impact is too great for Sakuya's human body, and even though her eyes are still open, she falls limp to the floor.

To her luck, she falls on Meiling's back, saving her face from the harsh wooden floor, but now Remilia is twice as furious, obvious from the rising crimson aura that surrounds her.

Without showing a trace of emotion on her face, Remilia rushes like a blur toward the unseen enemy, readies her claws, but is sent flying backwards to the small stage, where she slams hard against the wall.

Seemingly unaffected, Remilia quickly stands up and readies her claws, and that's when, to her left, there is a loud "vwoosh!"

She opens her eyes wide and exclaims "Ail! And... who is that?"

Ail and King Mickey jump right out of one of Ail's own gaps, and unlike Remilia, they can see the silhouette of the monster moving their way.

Mickey summons his Keyblade, while Ail summons that weird squiggly weapon and says "we'll take care of this!"

Remilia ignores Ail when Mickey summons his weapon, and with surprise in her voice, she shouts "KEYBLADE?"

* * *

Mickey turns a curious look at Remilia, but his response is "we'll talk later!", then he runs forward, jumps in the air and thrusts his Keyblade downward, striking the invisible creature and making it roar, while Ail glides just over the floor and swings his weird weapon like a bat, striking the invisible thing and making it fall on the ground, and helping turn it visible again.

Ail looks at Mickey as he lands to the left, then says "see, I told you I got the wavelength thing down!"

Mickey keeps his eyes on the monster and says "fine, I owe ya a ride on the Gummy ship. Now focus on this..."

From the right door, Patchouli says "that's a Dark Thorn! Get rid of it, quickly!"

Mickey and Ail turn their heads to Donald, Marisa and Cirno, who are running to them, and Patchouli and Koakuma, who stand under the door's archway, Patchouli holding that book form her desk on her hands.

She reads through the pages with speed, then raises her head and loudly says "if you don't hurry, it'll try to possess the entire room!"

Remilia is already next to Patchouli while holding Sakuya and Meiling over her shoulders, and as she pushes Patchouli and Koakuma through the door, she loudly says "this is a job for servants, so I leave this mess up to you. Don't let me down!"

After the door slams shut, Ail smiles sheepishly and chuckles, then says "and there they go."

Mickey suddenly exclaims "MOVE!", then he and Ail jump away and regroup with the unlikely trio to get a better look at the beast.

The massive thing has a black body, purple wavy thorns on its back, has dark manacles on both wrists and ankles, the one on the wrists separated, while the ones on the ankles are still linked, and has a hole on its chest in the shape of a heart.

It has a jagged, red toothy maw, beady, glowing yellow eyes, two enormous purple horns that blend with his mane, and muscular, but thin limbs that have three large red claws on.

Ail gulps after seeing the creature, then says "man, he's like some sort of giant monster dog-thing!"

Mickey and Marisa are already in the air, Marisa shooting blue beams and icicles at the monster, while Mickey is spinning around with his Keyblade on hand, and both shout at the same time "FOCUS!"

Ail snaps out of his thoughtful mind, then he, Cirno and Donald hop back once to avoid the creature's left claws.

Cirno squints her eyes to take a better look at the creature, then notices the dark flames that struck her before around the creature's back.

She gasps, points at the Dark Thorn while scowling furiously, then shouts "YOU! You're the one that caught me and Dai-chan by surprise! Get ready to feel my revenge!", then rushes forward.

Donald carefully aims a bolt of lightning on the creature's horn, making sure not to harm Cirno, while the ice fairy rips one of her own wings off and uses it like a sword to parry the Dark Thorn's claws, and sliding forward with a thrust.

The sacrificed wing rapidly grows back, so there's nothing to worry about.

Ail is about to jump in and join the battle, but a gloved hand pulls on his left shoulder, and when Ail turns to look at Mickey, the mouse king whispers "let them deal with it. We'll help if they need it."

Ail turns around again, then smiles when he notices how well Marisa, Donald and Cirno are handling the monster, so, like the king, he stays on the sidelines, waiting for any possible moment their help may be needed.

* * *

"Love Sign, Master SPARK!", shouts Marisa as she aims her miniature octagonal reactor and unleashes her multi-colored beam at the monster, which seems to damage it considerably.

The monsters lashes its arms in the air as it roars in pain from the magical beam striking it on the chest, and the moment the beam stops, Donald strikes it with a small icicle on the back, then Cirno follows by jumping in the air, spinning like a disk, and striking the Dark Thorn with her ice sword, using the momentum of her spin for more power.

After Cirno cuts the monster with her sword, the creature suddenly stop roaring, stands stiffly on the ground, then slowly tilts backward and falls hard on the floor.

As the Dark Thorn starts disappearing into the floor, Marisa, Donald and Cirno cheer victoriously, then Mickey shouts "hey, don't stop now! It's possessing the floor!"

Cirno, Donald and Marisa notice how the floor turns black underneath the monster, and how that darkness spreads all over the floorboards the very moment Dark Thorn is completely consumed into the polished boards.

The floor starts shaking around violently, not giving Cirno the chance to fly, or Donald the chance to run, and now they are being smacked all over by moving boards.

Marisa is safe on her broom, away from any danger, or so she thinks.

The Dark Thorn has turned invisible, and is hanging on the chandelier while waiting for Marisa to fly close enough.

Ail and Mickey, who fly safely above the moving floor; the king being held by the boy; can see the monster, but before Ail flies over to help, Mickey whispers "watch this" and points the tip of his Keyblade at the chandelier.

A thin white beam flies fast to the chandelier, and the moment it touches it, the dim light it shines intensifies and forces the monster to let go as it roars and covers its eyes as though in pain.

It falls on its horns on the floor, and although the floor remains black, the boards stop moving.

Cirno and Donald growl as they get up, turn their frowning faces at the trapped monster while it tries to pull its horns out of the floor, then the ice fairy and the duck nod after glancing at each other.

Meanwhile, Marisa floats dumbstruck in the air, staring at the chandelier, then she suddenly smiles wickedly, turns that wicked face to the Dark Thorn, then snickers after landing on the chandelier and starts drawing something on its very center, with a green pen.

Meanwhile, Cirno strikes the monster's body with a series of simple combinations with her ice sword, shouting "and that's for hurting my face; and that's for smacking me in the butt; and that's for making Dai-chan and me do those bad things; and-"

Donald is to the creature's left, lifting a spell card and shouting "Rapid Fire, Triple Blizzaga!", and just as he points his wand at the Dark Thorn, three large icicles fly right out of it, each followed by three smaller icicles that widen the spell's range just slightly.

Cirno slashes the beast one more time before jumping away from Donald's spell, and right after the first large icicle strikes the monster's open wound, it roars so loudly, the room vibrates violently.

After the rest of the icicles strike the Dark Thorn, out of the immense pain it felt, it pulls its horns free from the floor, taking one board on his left horn, and roars furiously toward the ceiling, making even the chandelier tremble, almost knocking Marisa down from it, though she holds on tight, then sighs with relief when the shaking stops, and continues working on whatever she is doing.

Dark Thorn runs after Cirno, grabs her by her torso, trapping her arms as well, swings her around, then tosses her straight to the wall on the right, immediately turning its attention on Donald afterward.

The duck bravely faces the monsters, grins, then lifts his want to summon more bolts of lightning that makes the monster shiver momentarily after they strike.

Meanwhile, Cirno is caught by Ail before she hits the wall, then asks "wh-what happened?"

Holding Cirno like a little princess, Ail smiles and says "that monster just disrespected you and tossed you aside."

Cirno looks confused and asks "what?", then Ail adds "and here I thought you were the strongest fairy. I guess I was wrong."

Cirno pushes herself away from Ail and furiously says "WHAT? Ooh! I'll make that monster pay," points at the half-youkai and adds "and YOU shut up! I AM the strongest fairy!", then flies straight to the monster.

Dark Thorn lifts it's left arm at Donald, ready to cut the duck to shreds, while said magical duck prepares another spell for it, though both are unaware of the angry little ice fairy flying their way.

The monsters winds its arm, then stops when from behind him, Cirno shouts "Ice Cube, Great Crusher!", and in just a second, she creates a gigantic icicle over her head, and slams it hard on the Dark Thorn's back, knocking it hard on to its belly, then Donald summons a showers of lightning bolts, then is tackled by Cirno afterward, because she forgot to stop flying in time.

As soon as the two are out of the way, the monster tries to push itself up, but the chandelier drops on it, expanded in size, sucks the creature to its center, rises back up, then Marisa, who flies on her broom just a few feet away from the chandelier, points her palms at the ornament, closes her eyes to concentrate, and mutters an incantation.

The monster roars one last time as the light inside the chandelier intensifies again, and slowly consumes it until there is absolutely nothing left of it inside, save for the slowly dimming light.

* * *

After finishing off the monster, Marisa quickly lands and casually walks over to Ail and Mickey, Cirno and Donald running to catch up to her friends, then says "I'm starting to get the hang of these Heartless things, ze."

After the witch catches up, Donald, standing to her left, says "oh sure. You let us do all the work and then finish them off."

Cirno, standing to Marisa's right, angrily taps her foot on the floor while placing both hands on her hips, and says "you couldn't have done it without my help!"

The blonde girl looks to her left, then to her right, then places her arms behind her head, closes her eyes, then angrily says "it was my spell that did the job, so live with it!"

Donald, Cirno and Marisa start to argue amongst themselves while Ail and Mickey just watch them go at it, but they don't have to time for this, so the king clears his throat and asks "so, did you guys find Patchouli, like you were supposed to?"

The trio immediately stops arguing, stare at Mickey, and from the mouse's right, a little girl says "really, what a noisy bunch."

Mickey gasps with surprise and asks "whoa, Ail, what happened to your voice?", but when he looks at Ail, he finds out the young vampire and mistress of the mansion is sitting on Ail's shoulders while covering his face with her skirt.

Ail sighs, and says "Remi, I can't see.", and the vampire just kicks his chest with her left talon and angrily says "just stand there and look pretty."

She quickly turns her eyes to Mickey, then says "you, mister Keyblade wielder. I thought you guys weren't supposed to meddle with local affairs."

Mickey gasps, and Donald squawks with surprise, then Mickey asks "how do you know about that?"

From the door on the right side of the expansive room, Patchouli says "my library possesses book on subjects many consider myths or legends. Like this book, for example. The only of its kind, because the original author was laughed at and ridiculed when he tried to publish it."

As she gets closer, she points at the book on her left hand, then opens it to show a crude picture of a Shadow.

Remilia jumps off Ail, flips once in the air, lands between Mickey and the magic trio, then says "I always wanted to see a Keyblade up-close."

Mickey twitches and gasps when he realizes Remilia is holding his Keyblade on her right hand while tracing her eyes all over it with great interest, then says "interesting weapon, but I wouldn't have need of it."

She tosses the Star Seeker back to Mickey, making sure to hide the burn mark on her hand, then turns aside to hide the beads of sweat coming from her forehead as the burn on her hand throbs painfully.

Ail bends next to Remilia, then whispers "it burned you, didn't it?"

Remilia twitches, chuckles nervously, then flies toward Patchouli and asks "s-so? What do you need Patchouli for anyway?"

Marisa twitches and gasps after the question, knowing the truth will upset Remilia, but Ail opens his mouth to explain...

Outside the mansion, the ground violently rumbles when Remilia shouts "**REIMU IS WHHHAAAAAAAT?**"

Back inside the ball room, Donald, Mickey and Cirno have been knocked on their backs by the force of the vampire mistress' scream, Marisa is crouching down, trembling and pulling down hard on her hat, Patchouli is covering her amused smile with her book, and Remilia is standing on Ail's chest while he lies flat on his back.

The vampire holds Ail's shirt and furiously pulls him from and pushes him against the floor while shouting "you idiot, how could you let that happen? I thought you were charged with protecting Reimu form shit like this! Why I ought 'a rip you a new one, Inmodo!"

After being repeatedly slammed against the unforgiving floor, Ail is in a daze, and can only mumble incoherently, so feeling satisfied, Remilia jumps off his chest, walks to Patchouli's left, then says "alright then, let's go. Koakuma, get my umbrella!"

Somehow, Ail is already standing straight, and with a large bandage on the back of his head, with an open rift that leads straight to the Hakurei Shrine in front of himself.

Koakuma, who has her face clean of any blood now, hands Remilia a pink parasol, then the vampire says "make sure Sakuya is taken care of, and have Meiling clean herself when she wakes up. I'm going to take a look into this matter, personally."

Koakuma bows to Remilia, saying "as you wish, my lady," then Remilia walks into Ail's gap without even looking at the little devil.

Mickey and Cirno walk to the gap, Mickey saying "wow, she's got one heck of a temper.", and Cirno saying "haven't been to that shrine in a while."

After they enter, Marisa chuckles and says "heads-up. Don't get in the way of Casanova here."

Marisa walks into the gap, while Ail looks around, asking "what? Who's Casanova?"

Patchouli gets closer to the gap, Donald tackles Ail out of the way, then offers his hand to Patchouli, bowing his head while saying "after you, oh so gracious lady."

Patchouli accepts the help, and even though she stares at the duck with that unfriendly look of hers, she still blushes while absentmindedly nodding.

After Patchouli enters through the gap, Donald quickly follows, leaving Ail looking around himself, wondering what the heck just happened to him.

Now the mansion is empty of anyone capable of resolving this incident, which could be solved already, if they only knew.

Unknown to all, the source of all these heartless comes from the seemingly harmless rock formation, just outside the mansion's walls, where the ground seems to rise a little higher than before.

* * *

Later that day, at the Hakurei Shrine, Mima, Patchouli, Donald and Mickey are working together to figure out Reimu's strange prison, while Remilia sits on Ail's chest and strangles him while speaking through her teeth, saying "you were supposed to guard her, you idiot!"

Meanwhile, Marisa, Goofy and Kyo sit around the small table next to the left-side exit, all taking sips from their tea mugs, while watching their friends working, and sometimes glancing over to Remilia and Ail, apparently for a moment of amusement.

Meanwhile, Cirno is looking around the shrine's kitchen, poking at the lower cabinets and the countertops while saying "look, look! I'm touching your stuff, Reimu! Come and get me if you can."

Both Mima and Patchouli gaps and pull themselves slightly away from the crystal where Reimu is, then both look at Cirno, and Mima says "hey, ice fairy, stop making her mad."

Patchouli adds "we can't work with you agitating her like this, so either shut up, or leave."

Before Cirno can even think up of a comeback, Donald has his arms locked around hers, and after a surprise gasp, Cirno starts kicking around furiously while shouting "hey, lemme go! Let me go this instant before I freeze you like steak!"

Ignoring Cirno, Donald loudly says "don't worry lady Patchouli, I'll take care of this nuisance for you.", then sinisterly whispers in Cirno's left ear "calm down or I'll burn you like beef!"

Cirno only understood the word 'burn', but that is enough to calm her down, then Donald quietly drags the fairy away to the back of the shrine.

From the table, Marisa and Kyo chuckle, then Marisa says "the duck's got it bad for Patchy."

Kyo chuckles some more, then says "yeah. I bet he'd bark for her if she asked."

Goofy chuckles in a most distinguishable manner, then says "just like the first time he met Daisy. A-hyuck, he even crawled around walls for a day, just because she asked him."

Marisa curiously asks "Daisy? Is she his girlfriend?"

Goofy nods, then whispers "and between you and me, if she ever finds out about this, she's gonna let 'im have it."

Kyo chuckles and replies a simple "my lips are sealed", but Marisa is another story.

Her evil grin becomes crescent with small jagged teeth, and widens to each corner of her cheeks, her eyes become cat-like, and she starts to rub her hands together as she says "oh, that's so good to know."

Suddenly, all heads in the room, even Ail's dazed and beaten head, turn to Mima, Patchouli and Mickey, when all three hum and mumble between themselves.

Remilia jumps off Ail after pushing his head on the floor, then says "you found something."

Mima nods, then says "I was right. There seems to be three separate signals coming into this crystal."

Patchouli points at the three prongs on top of the crystal, and says "these prongs act as receivers for the signals, spread it around the whole crystal, and reinforce it constantly."

Mickey then adds "not just reinforce it, but change the energy flow frequently. Someone went to great lengths to keep Miss Reimu in here."

Remilia looks at Ail in disgust, then says "then I guess that even with this fleshy man here, she would have still ended up in there, probably-"

Kyo finishes with Remilia "probably with Ail in there as well."

Ail finally manages to get up on his feet, wobbles for a moment, then holds the left side of his head, while saying "so, in short, we need to find where these signals are coming from, deal with whatever it is that's sending them, then Reimu will be free, right?"

Mima, Patchouli and Mickey nod in assent, then Ail says "sounds easier than it probably is."

Marisa, Kyo, Goofy, and now Donald and Cirno, who have just joined the three at the table, turn their heads to Ail, who continues "while in my Soraogan mode, I am able to see energy waves as easily as I can see you all right now."

Remilia turns her attention to the boy, then says "but you can't see this signal they just talked about. Of course, we can't have it easy, can we?", then jumps on Ail and holds him by his shirt while smiling.

Patchouli takes a step forward, then calmly says "calm down, Remi. Don't kill him just yet. Mima and I can work on something to track these signals, and I am sure we'll need his help dealing with this."

Remilia is already holding Ail by the collar of his shirt and readying her claws to cut his neck off, but after Patchouli's vague request for his life she calms herself down, releases his shirt, then nods and jumps off him.

* * *

Ail sighs with relief after his neck was saved, literally, then looks at Patchouli and lightly bows his head.

Patchouli nods back at him, acknowledging his gratitude, then Donald growls lightly while sending invisible purple sparks from his eyes to Ail.

Remilia casually dusts her sleeves and her skirt, snaps her right fingers at Ail, then looks at Patchouli and says "alright then. Patchy, as soon as you're done here, head back to the mansion, Sakuya may need your assistance while recovering. She did get hit pretty bad back there."

Patchouli silently nods, then Remilia walks toward the gap already opened in front of her, but before getting inside, she turns around to look threateningly at Ail, points at him with her right hand, then says "and you, you so-called protector! Fix this mess as soon as possible, or I'm turning you into Flandre's new plaything."

Ail starts to tremble and sweat, but even trembling so violently, he manages to bow to Remilia and say "r-right. D-don't worry! I'll make sure Reimu is out of there in no time, My Lady!"

Remilia lifts her nose after letting out quick "hmph!", then turns around and walks into the gap back to her home.

As soon as the gap closes, Ail asks "how long?"

Patchouli immediately replies "not sure", and Mima adds "we could be done in a few seconds... or a week."

Marisa and Kyo bang the table at the same time, and at the same time as Ail, they all ask "**A WEEK?**"

From the sky, a very familiar voice shouts "REIMUUUU! Emergency at the mountain! Reimu! Reimu~!"

Ail turns around and exclaims "Aya? Aya Shameimaru, you're alright!"

Mickey, Donald and Goofy squint their eyes while looking toward the sky, to where Ail is looking towards, but can only see a sparkle in the afternoon sky.

In just one second, the sparkle flies straight to the shrine entrance, and there now stands a girl with black bird wings on her back.

She has long black puffy hair that reaches just below her shoulder blades, pointy ears, red eyes, and wears a short-puffy-sleeved white shirt with a yellow band with brown leaf prints on the left portion and collar of the shirt, a short black skirt that reaches her knees, which has a matching yellow band with brown leaf prints on right of the skirt, a pair of calf-high black socks, red geta sandals, and a red tokin on her head.

The girl breathes rapidly through her mouth while looking around the shrine and desperately calls "Reimu, the Tengu Village is overrun, and it's spreading to the top of the mountain!"

Ail approaches Aya, places his hands on Aya's shoulder to calm her down, and that's when the crow tengu notices Reimu is trapped in the crystal, and shouts "FEATHER-STUFFED PILLOWS! What the hell! Reimu~!"

She rushes straight toward the crystal, running over Ail, of course, then the tengu panics, looks around, talks rapidly and incoherently about the end of the world, then Mima casually smiles as she karate-chops the rapid-talking chicken on the back of the neck, and knocks the winged girl down.

The evil spirit notices the surprised stares aimed at her, then shrugs and casually says "well, she calmed down now, didn't she."

* * *

After Aya wakes up again, Ail helps her to the table and gives her some tea, and even though she still shivers a bit, Aya manages to tell what happened.

She takes a big gulp of her tea, ignores the burning sensation on her tongue, then says "and now we have these weird roaches crawling everywhere, armored things that have taken two comrades' hearts, and there's these fat ones that keep pushing us around with those massive stomachs."

Patchouli reads through her book while Aya describes the creatures, then says "Shadows, Soldiers, and Large Bodies. There are probably more types of them out there by now."

Aya nods, then says "we thought we could take them, but they just won't stop coming! Even with the help from those mountain goddesses, they just won't stop."

Ail twitches, stiffens his arms and legs, and even though he trembles a bit, he manages to calmly asks "and you say they have taken over the mountain?"

Aya nods, then says "they just reached the shrine."

Kyo gets up so violently and suddenly, he almost knocks the table down, then walks over to Ail, grabs him by the left arm, then sternly commands "calm down!"

Marisa and Goofy stand up to help prevent any trouble, then they can see a rift on the floor, leading straight to a seemingly peaceful shrine, then Marisa says "whoa, idiot, don't jump in there like that."

Ail's response is his desperate call into the gap for Budou and Sanae, and when he realizes he's trapped by Kyo, he turns around and punches Kyo's fingers, hoping to break free while saying "let go! I have to go help them!", but to Kyo, his punches have no effect.

Mickey jumps from the crystal's side toward Ail and Kyo, slices through Ail's gap with his Keyblade, forcing the rift to a close, then looks sternly at Ail and says "we will help them, but we need to take one step at a time!"

Kyo grunts as he struggles with Ail, then manages to place his friend in a headlock, and says "look, buddy, I understand you're worried, but you can't help them if you get into this mess by yourself. You need to calm down and THINK!"

Goofy stands up besides Kyo and says "we will help ya out!"

Mickey walks closer to Ail and Kyo, then says "c'mon Ail. I'll help ya out this time."

Donald jumps away from Cirno's side and exclaims "me too!", but Mima quickly says "sorry, you and Marisa will stay right here."

Patchouli calmly adds "that's right. We will need both of your help if we want to make a working tracker for these odd signals."

Cirno, and the nervous Aya stare at Ail and Kyo with interest from the table, Mickey looks with concern into Ail's eyes, and Goofy gets closer to him and says "ya know, ye could go and lash your weapon around to try and 'elp, but you might end up hurting your friends along the way."

Ail stops struggling with Kyo, thinks hard about his chances of survival against what Aya says is a massive number of Heartless, then takes a deep and long breath.

After calming down, he looks at Kyo, then at Mickey, and finally at Goofy, then says "s-sorry. I just got... got worried. Wh-what do you guys suggest?"

Kyo releases Ail, then he, Mickey and Goofy smile, then Cirno raises her right hand in the air, already holding to a small ice sword, and exclaims "alright! More dark butts to kick!"

Aya quickly says "this isn't going to be easy! There's too many, even for the tengu."

Mickey smiles at Aya, then says "look, this is what we're gonna do."

* * *

To be continued...

Touhou-Project Shrine Maiden elements belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Kingdom Hearts elements belong to Square Enix and Disney Interactive

Ail, Kyo, and Budou were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

MAR 12 2011 (Updated FEB 29 2012)

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Again, I hope you are liking this story so far, and ask that you please let me know if I should just stop where I am, or continue writing these. And again I say, depending on how many reviews, hits and visits this crossover gets, I'll either go on with the simple idea and finish this quickly, OR expand the initial idea and add other worlds and characters from Kingdom Hearts.**

**Until next time.**

* * *

This chapter's new Heartless

Screwdiver - A type of Heartless that dwells in bodies of water. They use their trident for most of their attacks, and swim around like experts, using the propeller on their heads to move around, fast. They either propel to the enemy while twirling around with their tridents in front, or just tackle, swing said tridents with skill, and can absorb thunder/lightning.

Red Nocturne - A fire elemental Heartless that flies around, making sure to escape from the enemy, and either surround themselves with fire to tackle, or shoot small, but annoying fireballs.

Blue Rhapsody - A water/ice elemental Heartless that flies rapidly away from the enemy, and will either swipe its hat around while covering it with ice, tackle while surrounded in ice, or shoot fast icicles.

Yellow Opera - A thunder/lightning elemental Heartless that flies erratically around the enemy, and will tackle while surrounded with yellow lightning bolts, or summon a spark above the enemy's head that shoots a straight bolt down.

Boss Heartless - Dark Thorn - From Kingdom Hearts 2. His first form is Shadow Stalker, which looks like a black balloon with bright round yellow eyes, a pair of horns, and matching tentacles around it, and sporting a chain around itself. I used its second form, Dark Thorn, for this chapter, because I thought it was more appropriate. As for Dark Thorn, he moves around like a beast, and attacks as such, though also uses smart (to a point) moves, like the spinning around, and tossing of an enemy. It can possess rooms and inanimate objects with ease, and can and will turn invisible. It's a bit harder to make him visible than to just beat him up.


	3. Chapter 3

**NOTICE: Original Heartless by Willie G.R. are used in this chapter.**

* * *

Night has fallen over Gensokyo, and at the Youkai Forest, a place full of bushy trees of all shapes and sizes, as one would expect, which also serve as homes for fairies, and both friendly and dangerous wild youkai, the locals are finding it quite hard to go to sleep, or to find breakfast, in the case of those that have just woken up.

All sort of Heartless, some recently discovered, cause havoc for everyone, and even though the youkai are stronger than humans, some have fallen to the Heartless, and have joined their ranks as either Shadows, Soldiers, or simply become an orb of darkness that disappears from sight, only to reappear elsewhere as some other form of Heartless.

Four local girls of the forest have joined their efforts to fight back these creatures, and so far, thanks to them, the number of Heartless spreading around the forest's edges have diminished.

One of these girls has blue hair tied with red bobbles as twin tails, has blue eyes, and wears a green cap with a white symbol on it, a long sleeved, light-blue open vest over a white shirt with a silver gear motif imprinted on it, a long, light-blue skirt riddled with silver and golden-zippered pockets all around the lower borders of said skirt, and a pair of light blue wellington boots with silver plating on the tips.

Her name is Nitori Kawashiro, and is using mechanical arms and odd inventions from the large green backpack she carries on her back; which is strapped around her chest by a golden key; as well as an odd white rod that fires magical water bubbles, as her weapons against the Heartless.

The second girl has long aquamarine hair tied in front of her chest by a dark-red ribbon with white frills, and has a large frilly ribbon on top of her head of the same color, has aquamarine eyes, and wears a dark-red dress that's brighter red on the lower borders, has an aquamarine swirl to the left of her skirt that symbolizes the knaji for "misfortune", wraps a dark-red ribbon with white frills on her left arm, and wears a pair of knee-high black boots.

This is Hina Kagiyama, and her weapons are misfortune talismans that paralyze the Heartless, and her own legion of curses.

The third girl has short blonde hair with red autumn leaves on a thin headband, yellow-orangey eyes, wears a long red dress that ends in cutout leaf shapes, a white collar, which is bordered with chrome-lined cutout leaf shapes, and wears a pair of white socks and brown slip-on shoes.

Her name is Shizuha Aki, and her weapons are a self-made oak staff, her own agility, and her melee combat capabilities.

The fourth girl has short blonde hair, red eyes, and wears a red mop cap with a cluster of grapes on the front, a yellow, long-puffy-sleeved blouse under an orange dress with a long black skirt that reaches just under her knees, black straps over her shoulders, and has no shoes at all.

Her name is Minoriko Aki, Shizuha's younger sister, and more than actual fighting, she's there to support her comrades with buffs and healing spells, but that does not mean she can't kick or punch some Heartless when needed.

Though Hina and the Aki sisters are goddesses, it's Nitori who does more damage to the Heartless with her many strange inventions, though carrying that large backpack around slows her down a bit.

Nitori's left-side mechanical arms catch two Shadows that jump toward her from the trees, squishes them into dust, then Nitori shouts "they're on the trees now! Don't let your guard down!"

Minoriko and Shizuha press their backs against each other, scowling as they look around the themselves, then Shizuha exclaims "something's not right!"

After some annoying clanking noises come from the trees, Minoriko adds "miss Hina, stay close!"

Hina stands just two feet away from Nitori's left, and sounding just a bit irritated, she says "I can take good care of myself, thank you very much."

A total of ten Soldiers jump from the tree branches above and land right on top of Hina and Minoriko, while Shizuha manages to roll away, and Nitori gets saved by a miniature laser that shot itself upward from her backpack.

Hina immediately curses the two soldiers on her back, making their usually-round yellow eyes narrow down in a saddened manner, and just like that, they explode.

She gets up to the desperate voice of Shizuha, as she calls for her younger sister, but quickly finds out the Soldier on Minoriko's back have been literally kicked to dust by the older sister.

The young leaf goddess helps her sister on to her feet, and after Minoriko asks "wha-what j-just happened to me?", Nitori grins viciously and shouts "hit the floor! I'm trying the new one!"

Even Hina yelps and drops to the ground when Nitori's backpack opens up on its own, and still grinning, the kappa shouts "FIRE!"

A large blue rocket flies right out of the backpack, and even the remaining six Soldiers duck for cover when they see how that thing glows, but it explodes before coming down again and lights up the area.

All the girls gasp with fear when they realize they are completely surrounded by Soldiers and Shadows on the trees, but just as their hopes seem to start fading away, all the Heartless look away from the forest, and just like that, they either run away on foot, or disappear into black blobs.

The light from the rocket dims down, Nitori exchanges confused glances with the girls, then Ail, Mickey, Kyo and Goofy run by, Kyo shouting "they're headed to the river!"

From the air, Aya shouts "don't let them get the kappa too!", and Cirno, who is wearing a black sleeve on her right arm, shouts "seems I scared them off!"

Aya quickly replies "yeah, sure... you did. Now MOVE!"

After the party leaves, Nitori takes her eyes off the sky, looks at her allies, then asks "what the heck just happened?"

The reply she gets is a simultaneous shrug from the clearly-confused girls.

* * *

Nearing the waterfall at the beginning of the river, a Soldier looks around itself as though looking for something, but before finding anything, Mickey comes flipping around in the air and strikes the creature hard on the head, releasing a crystal-pink heart to the air after it becomes dust.

This part of the forest is silent, save for the never-ending song of the waterfall crashing on to the rocks below, and Mickey enjoys its soothing music until the rest of the party, except for Cirno, rejoins with the mousey king.

Ail angrily says "dammit, I can't find Cirno anywhere! It's like she disappeared!"

Sounding slightly worried, Goofy says "gawrsh, I hope she's alright."

Mickey nods, then says "that little fairy doesn't look like the kind that will fall so easily. Have faith in her, and I'm sure she'll come back on her own. Now, what should we do from here?"

Aya approaches Mickey, point up to the left side of the waterfall, then says "we go to the Tengu Village. Since this is an emergency, those that accompany me will be treated as temporary allies, so you guys have nothing to fear."

Kyo hums while pinching his chin, thinking a little before saying "well, Ail here won't be much help to us. I'm sure he'll want to head straight to the shrine."

Right after Kyo finishes his sentence, Ail agitatedly says "of course I want to go there! Sanae and Budou could be in danger!"

Mickey raises his hand to pat the back of the boy's left shoulder, successfully calming him down.

Kyo nods at Ail, then says "fine then. I'll go with Aya, and you three can-"

Mickey interrupts Kyo, saying "ah-ah-ah, just a moment..." then looks at Goofy and says "you are going to need Goofy on this one, so it's best he goes with you."

Kyo looks toward Goofy while the dog creature stands up straight, holding his shield firmly around his right arm, then Kyo looks back at Mickey, nods, and says "alright then. Ail, Mickey, if there's any trouble, you send us a signal. We'll come and help if we can."

Mickey and Ail nod at Kyo, then at Aya, who nods back, then at Goofy, who just chuckles and says "that's right. Don't go forgettin', ye've got plenty of friends."

Anilan bows to Goofy, knowing that that comment was aimed particularly at him, then he and Mickey make their way toward the waterfall's side, while Kyo, Goofy and Aya make their way across the river to reach the Tengu Village.

When they reach the riverbank, Kyo grabs hold of Goofy by grabbing him from under his arms, and while flying over the water, Goofy says "somethin' tells me we'll be the ones calling for help."

Kyo chuckles, and while landing on the other side of the water, he says "Ail has the type of luck only Reimu can match, and you tell me you king is a force of his own. I think you're right."

Overhearing the conversation, Aya flies overhead and says "jeez, will you quit that already? Us three, and the entire Tengu Village will be more than enough against those Heartless things! E-even if they are numerous."

Kyo and Goofy start walking toward the mountain, and with a feeling of unease coming through his voice, Kyo says "I sure hope you're right about that."

* * *

Over at the right side of the waterfall, Ail and Mickey look up to the mountain, take notice of the rocky path leading all the way up, then the boy asks "so, want me to fly us up there?"

Looking up, the king asks "can't ya just open one of those rift thingies instead?"

Ail shakes his head, continues looking up, then says "I actually have a very bad feeling about opening one of those right now."

Mickey smiles, then says "wise choice then."

The dense one looks down to his left at Mickey, then asks "fly you up?"

The black mouse looks up at the half-youkai to his right, and asks "you don't mind?"

Ail smirks, then says "just take down the Heartless that are sure to pop on our way up."

Mickey nods, summons his Keyblade to his right hand, then jumps on to Ail's shoulders.

The half-youkai places his hands together as though praying, summons his own failed, yet functional Keyblade-like, squiggly weapon to his right hand, then slowly lifts off the ground to the air.

Only ten feet in the air, and already six dark orbs appear right in front of Ail and Mickey.

Two Blue Rhapsodies, two Red Nocturnes, and two Green Requiems appear from these blobs.

The little green monsters looks exactly like their counterparts, with conical bodies, jagged collars and hats, thin legs, the black and red heart emblem on the chest, but their bodies are light-green, and instead of attacking, these fly around slowly, move their bodies and ring it like a bell, and surround their allies with a green glow that obviously heals them.

Mickey scowls at these new Heartless, then says "they've got healers now," then jumps off Ail's shoulders and starts spinning around, smacking all the Heartless hard with his key, and releasing the captured hearts.

Somehow, he manages to up-thrust the last Red Nocturne before falling and landing back on to Ail's shoulder, but before the two can celebrate, six more dark orbs appear in front of them, with two more Green Requiems, and four Air Soldiers.

Before jumping off Ail's shoulders again, Mickey says "uh-oh. Seems I'll need your help, buddy!", then jumps straight at the highest Air Soldier, while Ail tries to maneuver himself to stay underneath Mickey, and at the same time, rapidly spins around to strike the two green coned Heartless with his odd weapon, successfully releasing the captured hearts.

Mickey lands on his left shoulder, then Ail excitedly says "hey, you saw that, right? I released those hearts! It actually worked!"

Mickey quickly replies "good. Don't let it get to your head now!", then jumps back to the air and flips around, striking two Air Soldiers several times.

Anilan, again, maneuvers himself to stay under Mickey, and connects a few diagonal combos on the Air Soldier that tries to flip-kick his face, defeating it after the fourth hit.

Just before falling, Mickey manages to stay airborne a little longer, spins like a top with his Keyblade stretched out in front of himself, then finishes off the two dazed Heartless and falls back on Ail's shoulders, almost falling when his right foot slips.

Ail exclaims "this is crazy! I'm going to hurry this up, or we're both gonna fall!"

Before Ail has the chance to speed up, ten more Air soldiers appear above them, then scatter around fast, making it hard to track them, or even make up a strategy.

Mickey jumps off Ail, regardless, and while he attacks one in front, from behind him, another comes and strikes his back with its claws, making him flinch and fall toward the mountain.

Ail calls for Mickey, but before he can go anything, three of the Heartless rush to him and tackle his back, sending him straight to the rocky path on the mountain.

* * *

Having landed next to each other, Ail and Mickey get up from the rocky ground while rubbing their heads, and sounding aggravated, Ail says "I am going after those bastards!"

The boy is about to fly after the Air Soldiers, but Mickey grabs his shoulders and pulls him back, shouting "look out!", and right after they drop back on the ground, a giant pair of hands made from the rocks of the mountain trail down said rocks, stop in front of the Heartless, briefly separate each other, then quickly clap hard, taking out eight of them at once.

The brown-haired boy and the king watch in awe as the hands disappear back into the mountain, stare at the two remaining Air Soldiers flying erratically in the air, but before either gets up, a young girl's voice, familiar to Ail, loudly says "you are such persistent little cretins!"

A small girl with blond hair that reaches to her shoulders, green eyes, and is wearing a straw hat with a silver zipper in front and a pair of eyes on top, a simple purple dress with dancing frogs motif, a pair of long white sleeves attached to the dress with half-open silver zippers and a silver frog medallion hanging from a chain on the right sleeve, and a pair of knee-high white socks and black boots with dark-brown bands crossing the tips, swoops in front of the Heartless from out of nowhere, and swings a pair of iron rings that seem to glow gold around her arms.

She swings the rings around her hands, and using them as weapons, she spins around and strikes an Air Soldier on the face, then dives down and thrusts her rings on the torso of the next, and right after those two Heartless become dust, all ten hearts are released at the same time.

Both Ail and Mickey stare awestruck at the girl, then the king exclaims "she's amazing."

Ail suddenly snaps out of the surprise, then waves his arms in the air, and calls "Suwako! Over here!"

The girl turns around, spots the two on the rocky path, then slowly descends to get closer after magically putting away her iron rings.

Right when she's at earshot distance, Ail smiles and says "Mickey, this is Suwako Moriya, one of the two goddesses of the mountain! Suwako, this is Mickey. He's been-"

Before he can finish, Suwako scowls and says "and where the hell have you been? I've been trying to reach you all day!"

Ail's expression changes to concern, then asks "what happened? Is Sanae alright?"

Suwako angrily says "I don't know. There's a dark barrier up there, and we need a damned Keyblade to open it! And more importantly, do you have any idea as to why we have Heartless inside Gensokyo? This is a terrible catastrophe! If we don't do some-! Wait a moment..."

Ignoring the distress on Ail's face, Suwako turns her attention to Mickey, smiles when she sees the Star Seeker on his right hand, then suddenly screams with excitement "WAAAAAH! A Keyblade wielder! **It's a Keyblade wielder!** This is great! Say, can you help me with-?"

Ail suddenly shouts "Suwako, what about Sanae, and Budou? What's been happening over here?"

At the same time, Mickey asks "so you know of the Heartless and Keyblades?"

At the very same time, Suwako continues "my descendant and her youkai daughter are up there, and I'm really worried, so could you give me a hand with that barrier?"

Ail, Suwako and Mickey stare silently at each other when they are done with their questions, then Mickey says "uh, I think we'll have to try this one again."

Suwako and Ail simultaneously nod and say "agreed!"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the other side of the mountain; Kyo looks bored while he, Goofy and Aya, cross over a natural stone bridge, then he suddenly groans and says "man, not a single Heartless, nobody trying to take us down... What gives? I thought you said this place was overrun!"

Aya smiles nervously and gulps, but quickly recovers herself, looks around, then says "th-they're probably in the village, causing chaos as we speak."

Goofy looks at Kyo in confusion, then asks "so, you want the Heartless to attack us?"

Before Kyo answers, Aya, sounding serious, says "alright, keep your guard up, boys. We're about to enter tengu territory. Stick close to me at all times, and if we are attacked, do not get separated. It could very well be the last mistake you'll make in this lifetime."

Kyo and Goofy gulp, then the large dog replies "uh, sure thing, ma'am."

The exact moment Kyo sets foot on the other side of the bridge, a massive dark-blue and purple blob comes flying straight at him, so he, Aya and Goofy drop on the ground to avoid colliding with the thing.

It bounce once on the bridge, then crashes against a sharp rock almost reaching the other side, shattering it on impact, then stops.

Kyo is the first to lift his head to ask "what the heck was that?", and after getting up, he can see the large thing struggling to get up on its own.

Kyo summons his sword and shield when he notices the creature's blue arms, then sternly says "Heartless!", causing Aya and Goofy to get up from the ground, prepared to attack.

The large monster gets up, scratches its small head, then turns around, revealing a large black and red heart emblem on its chest.

It's a Large Body, and has a spherical body, long, large arms with silver armbands with black chains on its wrists, very small legs, big black shoes, a very small black head, a conical metal hat on it, and wears a purple body suit strapped by yellow strings around its large and round belly.

When it spots the party of three, it smacks its own belly with its right hand, making a loud "boing" sound, then quickly runs to them.

Just as the trio start their charge toward it, four white wolf tengu, one familiar to Kyo, rush toward the creature with their claws, shields and swords ready.

One of them strikes its belly to stop its charge, though causes no damage to it, and the other three immediately attack it from behind and on the head, finishing it off after one strike from each.

The one that attacked its belly is Momiji Inubashiri, and she has short white hair, wolf ears, the right one adorned with a silver wolf earring, a fluffy white tail, red eyes, and wears a white shirt with long sleeves that are strapped to the shirt by thin red strings, a long black skirt that reaches to her calves, which is adorned by two bronze zippers on the sides, the right one open at the bottom and has a red-fire motif around the bottom, a red tokin, and a pair of red geta sandals.

The ones beside her wear the same outfit, save for some modifications; two of them wear long pants instead of skirts, and the second skirted girl, as well as one of the ones with pants, have long hair that seem to flow easily with the wind.

The four tengu approach the party, then Momiji looks at Aya and asks "were they the only ones available?"

Aya nods with a stern face, then Momiji sighs and says "well, small help is better than none, but you guys better prepare yourself. The village is infested. They even took the courtroom."

Aya clenches her fists hard, grits her teeth, then asks "so they got Lord Tenma?"

Momiji shakes her head as her response, then asks "but the minute signal hasn't rung in a while, so could you guys go and check for us? We still have to clean up around here."

Aya is about to mention her concern for her allies' safety, but Momiji beats her to it by sniffing both Kyo and Goofy, then howling loudly to the sky; her howl echoes all over the mountain, then she says "there. For the time being, Kyo and..."

Goofy waves his gloved hand while smiling and saying "Goofy", then Momiji finishes "and mister Goofy are clear to enter the village safely, and will be greeted as allies to the Tengu."

Aya smiles like her usual self, then says "ah, you guys are so helpful sometimes. Thanks."

All four white wolves exclaim "HEY!", at the same time, but Aya only chuckles nervously and waves her hand at them.

After that awkward moment, Goofy gets closer to the wolf with long pants and long white hair, and says "say there, that was some fine shield work you did there. Can you teach me how it's done, Miss?"

The tengu growls, and sounding annoyed, he says "hey, I'm a guy! Jeez!"

Goofy covers his snout and says "whoops. Sorry there, sir."

The wolf just growls, then Aya chuckles and says "oh, take it easy on him, Mark! He's a newcomer."

The tengu furiously barks back "MY NAME IS WATANABE, you STUPID crow! GRRR!"

Not taking any offense, Aya simply strikes her fist on her open palm, then says "ah, that's right. Sorry about that, Watbe!"

Momiji has to hold Watanabe by his shoulders to prevent him from ripping Aya to shreds with his fangs, then sighs and gruffly commands "look, just head inside and go help Lord Tenma already."

Aya salutes Momiji and says "right!", then signals Kyo and Goofy to follow her, adding "come on, you guys. We have a job to do."

Resting the unsharpened end of his sword on his left shoulder, Kyo rubs his eyes with his left hand and says "somehow being around Aya seems more dangerous that going on our own."

Goofy just stares back at Kyo, trying to understand what the guy meant about what he just said.

* * *

Inside the Tengu Village, the usually quiet community is now a battlefield. Shadows, Large Bodies, Air Soldiers, and many other type of Heartless are giving the many tengu some trouble.

Included amongst the ranks of Heartless are weird-looking crows, with long crooked blue necks, large red claws, spiky black feathers on the head and body, a jagged-toothed open beak with a black face inside it, round yellow eyes, and has that black and red heart crest on the front-end tip of their beaks.

These, though weak, are numerous, and are giving some extra trouble to the tengu, whom already have their hands full.

The village is supposed to be a peaceful and beautiful place, with many houses set over the mountain walls, or patches of lands, and bridges made for those who prefer walking, most leading straight to the back-end of the mountain, and linking to many of the houses.

Most of the houses set around the rocks, the mountain walls and patches of lands have been lightly damaged, though by the look of things, the damage seems to have been caused by the tengu themselves.

A few of the wooden bridges are down, and that limits Goofy, the only one unable to fly, to having to cross the three old, thin natural bridges that lead to the courthouse; a massive white building with a red roof, and various open windows, set at the very end of the village against the mountain wall, on a long patch of land.

The building itself looks unharmed, but Aya knows that if the signal bell isn't being rung continually during an attack, it means there is trouble inside.

Aya takes a step forward, looks at the mess inside the village, but doesn't seem to be too affected by it.

She turns around to look at Kyo and Goofy, then casually says "since Goofy can't fly, we'll have to take the very old, crumbling natural bridges to get to our destination."

Annoyed, yet forcing a smile, Kyo says "why, of course. Making it easy would be too much to ask for, so yeah, let's take the most dangerous course of action."

Aya smiles at Kyo, and sounding almost too happy, she says "so optimistic in the face of danger! You are now my third most favorite human!"

Now even more annoyed, obvious by the pulsating vein on his forehead, Kyo face palms, sighs, then says "birds. Can't detect sarcasm at all!"

Goofy just chuckles, then says "we better get goin' to that there courthouse. The faster we finish this, the better."

Kyo relaxes, nods in assent, then says "alright then. Aya, lead the way."

Their run through the first part of the bridge is uneventful, but right after reaching a rocky patch of solid ground linking to the second part, five of those crow Heartless swoop down from the sky, screeching as they fly low to the ground in a spread formation, and readying their claws to attack.

Surprisingly enough, Goofy is the first to charge the attack with his shield raised and shouting "COME ON!", and ramming his shield hard against two of the Heartless, turning them to dust in an instant.

Surprised, Aya exclaims "hay, I'm the fastest in this party!", then she and Kyo charge to battle.

Aya uses her fan to create a small tornado, trapping two of the birds in it, then dive-kicks to the center of the small tornado and turns the Heartless to dust.

Kyo stops his charge, straightens up, blows air through his nose in annoyance, calls off his sword, places his left hand on his waist, grabs the last dark bird by the neck when close enough, making the bird caw in despair, then casually lifts his shield and smacks the bird on the head, taking down his first Heartless in the trip, and releasing its heart.

He is annoyed by this fact, evident by the disappointed look on his face, and says "the next five Heartless are all mine."

The left corner of Aya's lip rises as she points behind herself with her thumb, and says "ask, and ye shall receive."

Behind them, five Large Bodies are smacking their own bellies and pulling up their pants, as though welcoming Kyo to the fight, and now, the mentioned boy, Goofy and Aya scream and run for their lives through the second part of the narrow bridge, while the Large Bodies, as well as numerous other Heartless, hastily chase after them, all eager to take the party's hearts.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the right side of the waterfall, Suwako, Ail and Mickey follow the steep and rocky path to the top, and seems that by climbing the hard way, they save themselves the trouble of Heartless attacks.

While they climb, Suwako, who is ahead, loudly asks "so, that's what happened out there?"

Sounding a little agitated, but doing his best to control his nerves, Ail replies "y... yes, that's about all that's happened so far."

Suwako stops her ascent after reaching a long patch of land, looks up, then says "I see. Then it's much worse than we thought. But... you are certain that we can free Reimu, right?"

Mickey catches up to Suwako and Ail, then says "the girls weren't a hundred percent on it, but they believe we can."

Ail suddenly loses his patience and exclaims "look, talking here will get us nowhere. Let's get to this barrier and save Budou and Sanae, then we can focus on Reimu!"

Before Suwako has the chance, Mickey summons his Keyblade, jumps up, then smacks Ail on the top of the head, making Suwako grin a happily.

Rubbing his head, Ail angrily exclaims "dammit, what was that for?"

Mickey frowns as he looks up to Ail, then says "young man, that is no way to treat this situation, especially with your friends involved like this."

Still holding his head, Ail squats and says "I know, I know! But I'm just so darned worried. What if they are in danger right now? What if their hearts-"

Suwako takes front and center, places her right hand on Ail's forehead, then says "you and I have talked about this before, and you know this better than anyone, yet it seems I need to say it again. If you want to help those you love, LET. THEM. GO!"

Dropping on his seat after Suwako is done speaking, Ail sighs, closes his eyes, raises his head to look at Suwako, and slowly opens his eyes while calmly saying "I'm sorry, lady Moriya. You're right. It... looks like I need more practice and training."

Suwako chuckles, shakes her head, then says "no. You just need to settle that heart of yours. It's too jumpy."

She looks up and around, then says "well, here we are."

Ail gets up on his feet, then he and Mickey look around, but when neither can see any barrier, Ail asks "so... where's the barrier?"

Looking at Ail and Mickey, Suwako raises her right hand above her head, stands on the tip of her toes then her hand is suddenly consumed by a swirling mass of black and purple clouds.

Not even flinching, Suwako says "no less than eight tengu were consumed and turned to heartless thanks to this. Mister Mickey, all you have to do now is aim that key up to this point, and it will do the rest."

Mickey watches in awe as Suwako's hand rapidly grows back and looks like nothing ever happened to it, then shakes his head to recover from the shock, quickly raises the Star Seeker, and aims it at the very spot Suwako touched with her hand.

His Keyblade starts trembling violently, pulls Mickey closer to the barrier, and in a sudden burst of light from the Keyblade's tip, the barrier becomes fully visible.

It looks like a giant oval blob made of black and purple gas that seems to be churning within a balloon, but as soon as it becomes visible, bright white cracks start spreading around the whole thing, and in seconds, the horrible barrier explodes, allowing free passage to the Moriya Shrine once again.

Mickey continues to stare awestruck, turns his stare at Suwako, then says "you know a whole lot more about Keyblades than I do! Are you a Keyblade Master?"

Suwako chuckles, then says "I told you already, I'm a god. I may look young, but I've been around the block a few times."

Feeling a little ashamed for doubting her, Mickey bows his head and says "I'm sorry I didn't believe ya at first. It's just... a god. Gosh, I don't know what to say."

Ail, now far calmer than just a few seconds ago, chuckles and smiles while placing his right hand on Mickey's shoulder, then says "she does that often."

* * *

Back at the Tengu village, Aya flies ahead of Kyo and Goofy as they make a run-for-it to the courthouse, seeing as the number of Heartless chasing after them has doubled during their run through the third, and last segment of the bridge.

Kyo looks back, nervously groans, then says "they're gonna GET US!"

Goofy tries to hurry Kyo by pushing him and running even faster, but almost causes both to trip on their feet and fall down the bridge, thus slowing down when they almost fall and have Aya pull them back to safety.

Before continuing their run, Goofy says "er, sorry about that, Kyo," then they notice the first Large Body is getting closer.

The three of them scream and resume their running, then Aya excitedly shouts "there it is! The courthouse!"

Right as they reach the patch of land right in front of the large building, they all smile when they believe they are safe, and that's when six more blobs appear right in front of them.

There are now four more of those weird crows, and two more Large Bodies between them and the courthouse, and what's worse, the ones following them have finally caught up.

Aya, Kyo and Goofy press their back against each other, each of them holding tightly to their weapons, then Kyo chuckles and says "well, seems I'll get to have some action before I die."

Aya scoffs, then says "don't be so negative. At least think you'll wake up in Heaven."

Goofy scowls as he looks around at the Heartless surrounding them, then says "well I don' know 'bout you, but I'm not giving up just yet. There's always a way out of these here situations."

Both Kyo and Aya smile, then Aya softly says "fine then, let's give them hell, and come back for more after we're done."

Kyo nods, Goofy remains focused on the Heartless, then all three charge at the enemy, shouting courageously as they get closer to their intended targets.

Each raise their weapons offensively, then, from outside the cluster of Heartless, a woman shouts "let the divinity of the heavens cleanse this land of the darkness! Heaven's Stream, Miracle of Otensui!"

A powerful storm forms outside the range of the small party, and with a combination of powerful winds, raging holy streams, and a massive shower of bullets of various colors, the Heartless caught in the storm are quickly purified, and the hearts inside of them released.

The team of three look confused, but very relieved when the Heartless are swept away and purified, and as the storm around them subsides, Kyo laughs and shouts "Kanako Yasaka! About time!"

A woman with bushy, short blue hair, dark-red eyes, wearing a rope with leaves around her head, a red shirt with long, white sleeves, a dark-red skirt with bright red borders that have light flower patterns on it, a pair of sandals, a mirror on her chest, and a large round rope on her back, approaches the party with a calm smile on her face and says "that was just a sample of what your faith in me can do!"

Aya sighs with relief, then says "ayayaya. And there she goes with the faith talk, again."

Kyo, Aya and Goofy regroup as they walk closer to Kanako, then the black dog bows his head and says "thank ye kindly ma'am! For a moment there, we thought we were goners. A-hyuck."

Kanako chuckles, then Kyo says "Goofy, this is Kanako Yasaka, one of the goddesses of the mountain, and she's actually much older than she looks."

Kanako grabs Kyo in a headlock, and while smiling at Goofy and speaking dearly, she says "please, pay no heed to the tainted one's blasphemous speech."

From near the courthouse, Aya loudly says "I'm sorry to interrupt, but something's odd about this place. It's very... quiet."

Kanako releases Kyo, gets closer to Aya, and with a stern face, she says "that's right. I came down here after I was done with the elders' houses. I feel there's an unnatural power flowing from this place, and thought of taking care of it."

Rubbing his neck, Kyo gets closer and says "then what are we waiting for! ? We have to get in there, find what's lurking around, and kick that whatever's butt."

Aya grins mischievously, and in a joking undertone, she says "and you'll just run away again."

A vein pulsates on Kyo's right fist and forehead, growls, but doesn't reply.

Ignoring Kyo, Goofy walks over to Kanako and asks "so you're a god, right?"

Kanako shoots a casual look at Goofy, then nods, and just like that, the silly dog drops on his knees, bows until his snot touches the ground, then says "my lady! Thank you for savin' our lives."

Kanako chuckles, points at the dog-like creature, and says "say, I like this fellow. Please, get up. It is embarrassing, and you can't fight Heartless like that."

After getting up, Goofy joins Kyo and Aya, and along with Kanako, they stare toward the large courthouse, preparing themselves for what may lurk inside.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ail, Mickey and Suwako rush through the long stone trail leading to the Moriya shrine, flipping in the air, jumping on and off trees, and shooting small spells and bullets to get rid of the many Heartless that get in their way, releasing their hearts in the process.

While twirling in the air with her iron rings held tightly on her hands, and after taking out one Air Soldier, Suwako asks "so what world are you guys from?"

Mickey quickly realizes the question is directed at him, and at first he thinks of some excuse to not say too much, but remembers he's addressing a goddess, so decides to say the truth.

He spins in the air and takes out a second Air Soldier and one of the crow Heartless, then says "I come from Disney Town. More precisely, Disney Castle."

Suwako chuckles, then says "yeah, I noticed the kingly air about you, and that gear you have on is not poor man's gear, your majesty."

Ail is shooting blue laser beams all over the place, takes the lead, strikes a Large Body on the head, followed by Mickey, then Suwako tosses her ring to finish it off, releasing its heart, and after resuming their run, Ail exclaims "man, you really know your stuff, don't you Suwako-sama."

The goddess giggles, then says "I told you, I've been around the block a few times. But enough of that. We're coming up on the shrine..."

Just before reaching the large red gates that greet the faithful to the shrine, Mickey says "yeah, and seems the Heartless have stopped attacking. That usually means there's more trouble ahead."

Suwako smiles as she points at Mickey, then says "oh, you're good. And you're right."

The three stop right under the gate, take a breather, then Ail looks forward with longing in his eyes.

The Moriya Shrine lies right in front of him, but it's so dark, he can barely see anything, other than the few trees that make up its garden.

As his eyes adjust to the darkened night, he can see the central building, which is the main shrine, with its donation box on the front of the large wall, a large sacred rope hanging horizontally above it, as well as a white and red rope with bells hanging vertically.

To the left of that, he can see the storage house, which is a bit larger than the one at the Hakurei Shrine.

The lock is undone, but the door is closed, so maybe Budou and Sanae are in there.

Further back, he can see the sacred logs from the lake, standing eerily silent over the quiet lake waters.

He moves his sight to the right of the shrine, towards the living building, where there is always one light on, at least in normal days, but today hasn't been normal, and the lights in the shrine are off.

Ail looks back at Suwako, and trying to hold back his sudden surge of anxiety, he asks "w-what should we do? Ho-how do we save them?"

Suwako places her hand on Ail's shoulder, and calmly but sternly, says "calm down. The shrine is crawling with those things, Ail. We're going to have to take them out before we can search... alright?"

Ail nods rapidly, Mickey places a hand on his other shoulder, and after Ail looks back at him and then at Suwako, he calms down, nods more naturally, then says "alright. One step at a time."

* * *

Back at the Tengu Village, inside the courthouse, Kyo cuts a bright flaming cross in the air with his sword, pushes it forward with his shield, then the cross flies straight toward a pair of Large Bodies.

The flaming cross ties the two creatures together, constricts them, then Kyo jumps high and strikes their heads, releasing the captured hearts after the creatures become dust.

At the same time, Aya and Goofy are making short work of a couple of Air Soldiers, while Kanako deals with the crows that refuse to come down from the ceiling.

Kyo, Aya and Goofy regroup, then the buff boy shouts "Kanako! We're heading to the next room!"

Kanako flips her right thumb up and replies "I'll follow you soon!", then resumes her bullet battle with the crows.

The trio make their way to the door when it suddenly explodes, and from within flies Hatate Himekaidou, who twirls in the air before falling flat on her back with her clothes in tatters and her face covered in a black smudge.

She has long brown hair tied to twin pigtails with purple ribbons, and wears a purple tokin, a white shirt with purple frills on the collar, a black tie with a silver wing pinned on the tip, a purple and black checkered skirt that reaches just above her knees, a pair of black knee-high socks tied by purple straps, and a pair of red geta sandals.

Aya gasps and calls for Hatate, who narrowly opens her brown eyes, and whispers "Lord... Tenma... Possessed by... dark."

She closes her eyes once again, then a dark and chilling breeze comes from inside the main courtroom, taking the trio's attention away from Hatate.

Kanako lands next to the fallen tengu, picks her up, then says "I'll take her to the medics and come back as soon as I can. Now go!"

Kyo, Aya and Goofy nod simultaneously, then quickly rush inside the darkened room.

Right after entering, they gasp at the sight of the two figures in the room.

First is the Tengu Lord, Tenma, who is wearing a fierce-looking, red , long-nosed tengu mask over his face, a red tokin with strings at both sides that are covered with white, feathery puffs on his long dark hair, has a long black beard, and wears a long white robe over a black armored vest with golden edges, and a pair of mean-looking geta sandals with silver plates on the platform.

The other looks like a round floating purple helmet with the faceplate down and three silver spikes around it, that floats above a purple hourglass-shaped body, which has a lilac diamond pattern above its waist, as well as the black and red heart symbol on its chest.

When it sees the small party enter through the door, it rises high above the ceiling, and just watches, while the tengu lord turns his masked face at them, then raises a large fan the same shape as Aya's, only darker, and is emanating an ominous vibration.

Kyo raises his sword at the tengu, then says "Aya, listen carefully. Your leader is possessed. Donald and Marisa said they had to knock Cirno and Daiyousei down to free them before. Understand what I'm sayin'?"

Aya grins confidently, then says "oh, don't worry about me. Not too eager to do this, but at the same time... I kind'a want to."

Goofy nods at Aya, then looks at Kyo and says "try not to harm him too much. He's possessed after all!"

With Kyo on the front, Goofy to the right, and Aya to the left, the small party is ready to battle the possessed tengu lord, Tenma.

* * *

The first thing the large tengu does is viciously swing his fan and send large dark tornadoes at Aya.

Kyo and Goofy rush forth, but Goofy is stopped by the sudden appearance of two soldiers, leaving Kyo on his own.

Aya takes flight just before the dark tornadoes touch her, and aims to battle the odd Heartless hiding on the roof.

Kyo reaches Tenma, raises his sword above his head, swings it downward, then Tenma blocks Kyo's sword with the dark fan, but Kyo just grins and chuckles, then smacks the possessed tengu lord on the ribs with his shield.

Tenma gets pushed backward, then Goofy suddenly charges forward, raises his shield above his head, then jumps off the ground like a rocket, shouting "sorry about this, sir!", and strikes Tenma on the chin, making him tumble backward and fall with his back against the tall podium he uses to address his people.

Meanwhile, Aya sends a barrage to tornadoes at the odd Heartless, but it has a dark barrier around itself, and all her attacks bounce off. She grunts as she positions herself closer to the creature, rushes forward with her fan, but ends up getting deflected, and falls backwards to the ground.

She falls on her back on something relatively soft, and with a curious look on her face, she looks around to find out she's on the possessed Tenma's lap.

When she sees her leader raising that fan over his head, she panics and shouts "PUFFY FEATHER DUSTERS~!", then manages to roll away from his lap and the fan that falls and cuts the floor like a blade, saving her own head, but not a few strands of hair.

While Tenma gets up, Kyo and Goofy rush to Aya, then Kyo asks "are you alright?"

Aya has tears dangling under here scowling eyes, and sounding both panicked and aggravated, she shows the tip of hair missing from the left side and shouts "does **THIS** look OK TO YOU?", points at Tenma, then finishes "he's going to have to pay! NOW!"

Goofy tries to remind her that Tenma is being possessed, but Aya cuts him off and shouts "HE! WILL! **PAAAYY~**!"

Tenma rushes straight at the small party at the same time that Aya takes flight and rushes straight at his face, and before Kyo can voice his concern, Shameimaru is already kicking the tengu lord on the right cheeks with the platform on her sandal.

Surprised, Kyo drops his guard and says "whoa, she's really pissed off."

Goofy suddenly shouts "behind you!", then he and Kyo start fighting off some Soldiers that appear out of nowhere.

Tenma groans loud and long as he clumsily tries to swat Aya away from himself, but the tengu reporter isn't giving him the chance, zipping to the left and the right, leaving an after-image with every move, and swatting his head with her fan.

Aya thinks she has him, and is ready to make her final move, so she shouts "this is it! You are going DOWN!", and dives straight to his face, but that's when Tenma lifts both arms in the air and summons a shield of wind-blades that leave a gash on Aya's left cheek when she crashes against it.

Meanwhile, Goofy pushes the last Soldier towards Kyo with his shield, then Kyo finishes it off with a downward cut in the middle, and as the released heart flies away, Kyo shouts "woo! That was fun! Let's get the big guy now."

Aya falls on top of Kyo, knocking him down along with herself, and while rubbing the back of her head, she gets up, groans, then says "he got mad."

Tenma's eyes can be seen glowing red from behind the mask, and the wind shield around him turns purple with a wave of his hand, then Kyo hastily gets up along with Aya and exclaims "poison! Don't get too close!", then rushes forward while raising his sword.

Aya shouts "HEY! I thought you said 'DON'T get close'! What are you doing?"

Kyo shouts back "I'm immune", then matches Tenma's fan swings with his sword.

Goofy observes the tengu lord's movements as he fights with Kyo, and without saying anything, he raises his shield over his face and charges forward.

Aya follows after him, shouting "you crazy dog thing!", then launches a wind blade at Tenma, making an opening on the poisonous air shield to his stomach.

Goofy speeds up, jumps to the tengu, aims his shield, then strikes the tengu lord straight on the abdomen, making him groan loudly and stop his attacks.

Kyo takes this chance to back away and regroup with the tengu girl, then Tenma drops his fan and calls off his wind shield, holds his stomach, then both Kyo and Aya look at each other, nod, and run to the tengu lord.

Aya kicks his abdomen as hard as she can, while Kyo jumps and strikes his forehead with the hilt of his sword, and just like that, Tenma screams, and the dark aura that surrounded him lifts to the air, the courtroom lights up, and as though being repelled, the odd Heartless on the ceiling breaks out of the building and flies toward the mountain shrine.

Now that there is light, the party can see the red and white checkered tiles that make the courtroom's floor, the knocked wooden podium, the destroyed tables where the elders are supposed to sit, and the various droplet-shaped hanging lamps on the ceiling.

Kanako flies inside the room just as the creature escapes, points up, then shouts "he's going to the shrine! After him!", then quickly flies after it.

Kyo, Aya and Goofy still haven't grasped the fact that they have won, and just look at Tenma with concern.

After Kanako is gone, Momiji, as well as several white wolf, crow and daitengu enter the courtroom, gasp at the sight of their knocked-out leader, then one of the masked tengu asks "what happened? Who did this to Lord Tenma?"

Aya, who hides along with Goofy behind Kyo, exclaims "h-he was possessed! The thing that did it ran away! Ka... Kanako went after it!"

Kyo takes a step forward, then sternly says "we're going after that monster, so you take care of your leader."

The masked tengu gets closer to Kyo, showing off his towering height to the human, then nods and says "go, and make sure those things never return to our mountains."

Kyo nods, turns around, grabs Goofy by the back of his shirt's collar, then takes off after Kanako.

Aya grabs a green leaf from her skirt pocket, presses it against her cut cheek while looking at the masked tengu, and when she removes the leaf, the cut is gone.

She nods at the tengu, he nods back to her, then suddenly takes flight after Kyo and Goofy.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Moriya Shrine, Ail Mickey and Suwako struggle against the army of Heartless over the shrine's grounds, while making their way to the living quarters.

They are just three steps away from the building when three Large Bodies and five Soldiers appear right in front of them.

Ail seems tense, but far more relaxed than before, and glaring at the ones between him and the building, he calmly says "I'm starting to get real sick of all of you.", then rushes straight into battle, promptly followed by Mickey and Suwako.

He raises his odd-looking weapon and strikes one of the Soldiers, releasing the captured heard, but the Large Body behind it manages to body-slam Ail and send him flying backward to Suwako.

The little goddess remains on her feet when she catches the flying boy, then looks at the odd glowing of his weapon and says "oi, we'll handle these small-fry. Go inside and get my Sanae and Budou."

Ail stares with confusion at Suwako, but before he can ask, she throws him over the Heartless into the dark building with a simple gesture from her right arm.

After doing that, she and Mickey stand with their backs against each other, and the mouse asks "are you sure that was wise?"

Suwako grins, then asks "scared of the Heartless?"

Mickey smirks, then says "hey, I've already got 56. How about you, Miss Goddess?"

Suwako lowers the front of her hat to hide her eyes, grins, then says "tch! Must be getting sloppy. No matter, I can top your number if I just focus."

By now, the two are surrounded by the many Heartless, including the crows and Shadows, then they both raise a hand, a spell card appears above each, and they simultaneously shout "**Divine Bright Winds!**"

Mickey jumps on Suwako's shoulders and angles his Keyblade upward, while Suwako stretches her hands with her rings apart and starts spinning and floating 2 feet above the ground, then powerful gales imbued with pure light starts gathering around her and King Mickey, then turns into a bright tornado of light.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the dark living room, Ail slowly gets off his face and looks around, quickly realizing there is a single lamp on the right-side wall that dimly lights the living room.

There is a small square dinner table sitting to the right of the living room, away from the open sliding doors leading outside, and there is a television at the center, nearing the back of the room, as well as a couple of knocked-over wooden couches with red cushions.

To the right side of the building is the kitchen, which is quite modern, though most of the electronic devices in it aren't doing much anymore, seeing as there isn't electricity in Gensokyo.

The counters still have chopped vegetables on the cutting board resting on top of one of them, between them, the sink is full of water, only half of the dishes have been cleaned, there is a knife stabbed on the floor in front of the cabinets under the counters, and Sanae's apron lays on the unused side of the counter with various tears and stains on it.

To the left of the building is the rooms corridor, and that's where Ail is headed.

To the farthest left, almost in front of the corridor's wide doorway is Suwako's room, next to the right is the toilet room, next to that is the bathroom, and further inside are Kanako's and Sanae's rooms.

As he enters the darkened corridor, he calls "Sanae, Budou! If you can hear me, say something!"

From the room farthest inside the corridor's right, a little girl cries out "papa! Papa, **please** let that be you... HELP!"

Ail immediately raises his head in attention, runs fast toward the last room, and when he opens the sliding door, he finds Budou curled up into a ball at the right corner of the room.

She has long teal hair that reaches the top-half of her back, touching her large brown bat wings, has violet eyes without pupils, and wears a large white ribbon with black borders on the left of her head, a light-brown sleeveless dress that reaches down to her calves, a short-sleeved white shirt under the dress, wraps a small teal apron around her waist, and wears a pair of pink socks that allow her tiny claws to freely cut through without breaking said socks.

Next to her are a pair of purple gauntlets with silver claws threatening to grab her, but get pushed back whenever they crash against a holy barrier around the little girl.

Ail knows that is Sanae's barrier, but the shrine maiden is not in her room; but now that he's found Budou, Ail wastes no time in summoning his weapon, which now looks like a straight rod, then jumps toward the left gauntlet and swings with all his might.

With just one swing, he sends that gauntlet spiraling in the air and against the back wall, but he still has the right one to deal with.

The right gauntlet punches the side of his ribs, but Ail manages to hold on to it with his left arm, raises his light rod, then strikes the end of the gauntlet, making it flip and drop to the ground.

Both gauntlets rise up from the ground, but instead of attacking, they rush straight out the window.

After the gauntlets are gone, Budou rushes out of the barrier towards Ail, wraps her arms around his waist, then cries "I tried to help, but I got scared, and mama tried to save me, and-"

Before she continues, Ail kneels down, embraces her and rubs her head to calm her down, and with a smile on his face, he asks "it's alright. I'm here. Now, where is Sanae?"

There is a loud bang and a scream from the living room, then Budou shouts "mama Sanny!"

* * *

Ail and Budou rush out the room and into the living room, noticing the door to Suwako's room has been destroyed from inside, then both gasp at the sight of Sanae Kochiya lying hurt on the living room's floor.

She has long light-green hair, green eyes, and wears a snake coiled around the white tube on her right sideburn, a frog-head clip above that, a white sleeveless vest with blue borders, a sleeveless shirt underneath, a pair of detached sleeves with blue borders, a long blue skirt that covers down to her calves, and a pair of blue socks and light-green shoes.

She lies on the floor with bruises and stains all over her face, and with her clothes in tatters, and she suddenly yelps and rolls around to avoid being stomped by a large black shoe with purple guards and forelegs.

When that foot stomps, it sends a shockwave that strikes her back and sends her flying against the television table, where she yelps again in a failed attempt to call for help.

Both Budou and Ail lose their temper at the sight, and rush in to help her, but the second foot stomps down hard behind them, and sends both flying forward after the shockwaves hits them.

Ail wraps his left arm around Budou and gets up from the ground, summons his weapon once again, though it looks as messed up as before, then he jumps in the air and strikes the second foot before it stomps again, making it fall to the floor on its side.

Budou pulls on Ail's left sleeve, then points at Sanae and shouts "save her!"

She fires a laser at the falling foot, which was headed straight at the green-haired girl, and makes it loose momentum, giving Sanae the chance to get up and limp away.

Ail places Budou on the ground, closes his eyes, then, after time seems to stop, he says to himself "to save those I love, I have to let them go. Still, I already failed with Reimu and Rika, and now I might not be able to save Sanae. My heart aches with fury for all my blunders. I want to do more, be better, but I can't help if I lose my temper like that; fall into darkness again."

At that moment, Mickey enters through the front door and notices the second foot is about to get up, so he rushes to it and smacks it right back into Suwako's room.

Ail's right hand starts glowing gold as he continues "but I mustn't give in to this hatred. If I give into that, I'll probably end up like a Heartless. What I need is strength of heart; the power of light! Maybe that's what Suwako and Mickey meant back there. I think I understand. My heart is light, but when I lose myself it becomes dark! I think... I get it now."

Mickey stands beside Budou, and stares awestruck at Ail.

The weapon of light on his right hand has taken the shape of a Keyblade, looking like a large key; with a long rod with teeth that look like a crown on the tip, a hand-guard that looks like the head of a large old key, and a Hidden-Mickey symbol at the end of the weapon's ethereal keychain.

Mickey stares at the Keyblade made entirely of light, then whispers to himself "but... that looks like the Kingdom Key. The one in my master's book."

Ail has no time to inspect the light-copy of a Keyblade he's managed to make.

Sanae is in danger, so he rushes straight at the flying foot that's chasing after her.

The maiden tries to limp away to safety, but that foot is flying faster than she can move, so she ends up crouching on the floor and calling for help, then Ail moves in and strikes it with his Keyblade of light, sending it flying through the roof after just one swing.

After the threat is gone, he turns toward Sanae, kneels beside her to meet her face, smiles, then softly says "sorry I'm late."

Sanae looks up at Ail, wanting nothing more than to throttle him for not answering her summons, but instead accepts his offered helping hand and gives him a sudden hug, asking "dammit, why didn't you come? We used the whistle, so why didn't you?"

After calling off his new weapon, Ail returns Sanae's hug, and while he comforts her, he looks around and notices the surprised look on Mickey, Budou, and the "I-told-you-so" look on Suwako's face, who now stands under the exit's doorway.

* * *

After brightening up the living room with more lamps, settling down a bit, and having Sanae's wounds tended; now having bandages on her right arm, left leg, and over her forehead and left eye; Suwako approaches Ail next to the table to the right of Sanae, and says "so you understood why I stressed about letting them go."

Ail nods, summons his Keyblade of light, and as he stares at it, he says "so you knew what was messing up my attempts to copy this Keyblade thing after all."

Suwako nods, then says "but that's not all. If you kept going on like that, the Heartless would have consumed you. Thankfully, now that you understand this, it will be harder for the darkness to take you. And that's good, 'cuz we need you here with us."

Ail looks at Suwako with concern and asks "harder? You mean, even with this, I can still fall?"

Suwako nods, then Mickey, who is with Budou on the replaced couch near the television, loudly says "Ail, just because you managed to summon a Keyblade doesn't mean you can't fall into darkness. In fact, you will be tempted to join the darkness even more, now that you have that weapon. Just stay true to those you care about, don't lose your temper, don't give in to guilt, and you should be fine."

Suwako immediately adds "and to remain in the light, stop being so greedy, and let go of your loved ones. You'll smother them too much if you don't, and they'll eventually get tired of it, and leave you on their own."

There is a sudden loud thud from the front yard, then Suwako, Mickey and Ail spring on to their feet, then the little goddess says "Sanae, Budou, I've placed barriers around the house. Stay inside and let us handle this."

She turns her head to Mickey, who nods at her, then at Ail, who sighs then nods at her, then the goddess says "they're gathering up. We'll need to give it our all, and more. Now, let's go."

With that, Suwako, Mickey and Ail exit the building, and immediately find out the entire shrine grounds are invaded by too many Heartless to count, and now, in the center of that are the arms and feet Ail fought before, along with its torso and head, all which hover close to each other to make one large armored Heartless named Guard Armor.

Mickey, Ail and Suwako summon their weapons, and with smiles on their faces, they look around the shrine, then Ail asks "we better take their leader first, don't you think?"

Mickey and Suwako nod, then Mickey says "just watch your backs at all times."

The trio walks toward the largest Heartless, well-aware of the many creatures gathering up behind them, closing up any escape routes, not that they are looking for one at the moment.

The three now stand ten feet away from the Guard Armor, look around themselves, then Suwako says "so unfair," Ail adds "so few for the three of us," then Mickey chuckles, then says "don't worry, I'm sure we can manage some amusement out of this."

* * *

Mickey is the first to jump straight toward the large Heartless and strikes its head hard while spinning around with his Keyblade.

Ail follows after Mickey and focuses on attacking the monster's spinning arms, making it flinch when he blocks the attack so forcefully, then aims his attacks at the monster's torso.

Suwako clicks her tongue, takes two steps forward, then flies low to the ground and uses her rings to smack the monster's feet as she flies between them, and once she's behind it, she jumps up and strikes the back of its head with her rings without needing to turn around.

The Guard Armor suddenly splits its limbs apart and flies above the battlefield while Ail, Suwako and Mickey focus on taking down the stomping feet and their shockwaves, the drill-spinning arms, and taking out the smaller Heartless that are already too close.

Ail gets hit hard on the back by a shockwave and tackled by a crow, then rolls away from a Shadow's claw, strikes the crow on its chest, sends it flying against the Shadow, releasing the heart from the crow when they explode, then blocks the foot when it tries to stomp him, knocking it sideways in the ground.

He takes advantage of this and lands a few combos from his Keyblade before sending it flying away towards a group of Large Bodies, releasing the captured hearts and saying in admiration "whoa, they were released after all."

Mickey is spinning around, taking out one Air Soldier after another, then various crows dive straight at him and manage to tackle him to the ground, but Mickey isn't out yet.

He pushes himself on all fours, starts spinning around and drops his back on the ground, and as he spins around with his Keyblade held on his hands, a light starts surrounding him.

He spins faster and faster and ends up standing up in one foot, and as he continues his bright spin, he moves around the entire battlefield, successfully creating a large parameter for the trio, and now can focus again on the largest Heartless once again.

After spinning so much, King Mickey finds himself a bit dizzy, so he covers his eyes with his hand and waits to recover.

Suwako moves about like an acrobat, taking out some Shadows, blocking one drilling arm, striking the second hand hard, and finally kicking the second foot away from herself.

Once she's free to attack, she calls off her rings, jumps in the air, inhales heavily, then spits out a divine stream of water from her mouth that strikes all three floating limbs and sends them flying straight at the fourth one, plus, she manages to save Ail from a Shadow behind him as well.

She lands softly, and loudly says "Ail, watch your back!"

The boy nods, then suddenly scowls and instinctively sends his Keyblade of light spinning in the air straight at Suwako.

The little goddess gasps and drops to the ground, allowing the spinning Keyblade to fly over her head and strike a Soldier and Large Body that were behind her, releasing their hearts.

The weapon spins back to Ail's hand like a boomerang, then he excitedly says "whoa, I could actually throw this! That's awesome!"

Suwako gets up from the ground, chuckles nervously, then says "ca-careful where you aim that, you idiot!"

The Guard Armor's torso and head fly back down and its limbs reassemble, and that's when Ail, from its front, Mickey from its left, and Suwako from its right, look at each other, nod, then jump as high as they can.

The moment they get close enough to each other, the trio strike their weapons together, and drop down hard on the Guard Armor's head, creating a large spear of light as they fall down.

The Heartless stops moving for a moment, its limbs, body and head start shaking, then it falls to pieces on the ground.

The trio quickly regroup, high-fives as Suwako cheers "we did it!", but quickly realize the number of Heartless around them has tripled.

Mickey gulps, then says "uh, guys, I think we're in trouble now."

Ail, Mickey and Suwako press their backs against each other, and wonder how they will manage such an insane number of Heartless, and to make matters worse, the Guard Armor starts shaking, and suddenly rises up.

The trio watches as the feet take the place of the hands and become a set of black pincers, how the claws become the creature's feet, how the torso turns around to have the wider part of it on top, and how it opens up its faceplate on its head to show as though it has jagged teeth, and a pair of round yellow eyes on its dark face, thus becoming Opposite Armor.

* * *

By now, even Suwako seems worried, but still, sounding as calm as she can, she says "come on, we can't give up just yet. There's always something to-"

Kanako's voice echoes loudly when she shouts "fly true, Onbashira!", and riding a colossal sacred log, the war goddess lands it on top of several Heartless, releasing quite a few hearts in an instant.

Kanako waves at the trio and exclaims "the cavalry has arrived!"

From the shrine's entrance, Cirno's voice rings loud and clear as she rushes to battle along with the Youkai Forest girls, shouting "take that! And THAT! Come on, girls! There's plenty of Heartless to go around!"

The little ice fairy is still wearing that black sleeve on her right arm, and she's leading Hina, Nitori and the Aki sisters into battle, and all seem quite pleased with this.

Ail whispers "why that little ice fairy. Heh, I'm so glad to see her."

From the left side of the shrine grounds, the familiar sound of Goofy's shield, bashing against Heartless' heads gets Mickey's full attention, and he watches as his loyal knight, Kyo and Aya fight hard against the horde of Heartless.

Goofy notices his king looking at him, waves, then says "a-hyuk, we'll take care of these here Heartless for you while you take care of that there big one!"

Mickey nods and waves back at Goofy, then he, Ail and Suwako turn around to face the Opposite Armor with confident smiles on their faces.

Over at Kanako's side of the battlefield, the air-headed goddess of war summons divine danmaku storms and sacred logs that float around her back to take down as many Heartless as she can, freeing the captured hearts from those with the black and red emblem on them, while turning the Shadows to mere dust.

She hovers over their heads while gesturing her hands to move her logs, and soon realizes the Air Soldiers and Large Bodies are taking quite a few hits before falling.

Surprised at this, she thinks "I have been neglecting my meditation," then notices Mickey's and Ail's weapons and asks herself "oh, I wonder if those are the Keyblade thingies Suwako was babbling on about earlier?"

She gets so caught up in staring at the key-shaped weapons, she doesn't notice the Shadow sitting on her head until it starts swinging its feet and swaying left and right, as though singing to itself.

Annoyed by it, Kanako gestures her fingers for one of her logs to wind back, then slams herself on the head with it, taking care of the little Heartless, but causing herself to drop to the ground in a daze and waddle around while swinging wildly and babbling incoherently.

* * *

Meanwhile, Cirno uses a large two-handed ice sword to cut and thrust the Heartless, and even uses her left hand to punch those that get too close to her.

Hina, Minoriko and Shizuha are working together to take down their share of monsters, though the curse-doll youkai keeps forgetting about her allies and spews out curses all around, making it harder on Minoriko and Shizuha.

Nitori is working her magic close to Cirno, but makes sure to keep away from the ice fairy, and she laughs manically as her mechanical arms take out Shadows, Soldiers and Crows, her semi-magical staff, which now floats to her right, takes care of the Air Soldiers and the conical-shaped Heartless, and uses her own water bubbles and lasers on the Large Bodies and Screwdivers that get too close.

Nitori looks over to Cirno and exclaims "careful little ice fairy! The big ones are tricky!"

Right then, Cirno tries to thrust a Large Body's belly and ends up getting deflected, and the large Heartless takes the chance to swing its big arms around to smack Cirno on the side of her head.

She is pushed away and almost knocked on the ground, but when she recovers, she stomps hard on the ground and shouts "oooh! That's IT! I'll make you pay for THAT, fatty!"

She hovers three inches off the ground, points her left hand at the Heartless' chest, then fires several icicles that damage it, regardless of its defenses.

After shooting more than enough icicles to make herself feel satisfied, Cirno flies straight at the creature's head and swings her sword with all her might, taking it down, and somehow releasing its captured heart.

The ice fairy lands behind where the monster was, smiles boastfully, then resumes her attack on the other Heartless.

Meanwhile, Aya uses a tornado on Goofy at the same time as he starts spinning around with his arms extended, and as he gains momentum from the tornado, he knocks out a Heartless per-hit, save for the Large bodies, which take at least three hits from this technique to take down.

When he stops spinning, he immediately rushes forth to bash more Heartless ahead.

Aya combines her wind magic with kicks and direct strikes form her fan, and unlike Goofy, she's taking out the Heartless a lot faster.

While she attacks, she notices how those creatures defeated by her magic spells have their captured hearts released, and those she defeats by melee attacks simply turn to dust that will probably come back later.

She smiles as she raises her fan next to her face, then says "I'll free the hearts of those tengu you took!"

Meanwhile, Kyo seems to be having the time of his life, cutting Heartless with his sword, or bashing them with his shield and releasing the hearts while smiling, and feeling confident, he shouts "oh yeah! Bring them on!"

And that's when five Large Bodies in a triangular formation step forth, smacking their bellies or adjusting their pants in a taunting manner.

Kyo looks on with a bit of fright, gulps loudly, then asks "why the hell do they come in packs of five?"

He slightly bends his knees, raises his sword and shield, then grins and says to himself "well Kyo, let's see what you can REALLY do."

He jumps over the head of the leader, then begins his attack with a sword thrust on the creature's back.

Unknown to all, there is a black-hooded figure taking the right side of the battlefield, wielding an ivory-colored Keyblade with a broken red heart on the wing-shaped teeth and on the keychain, a hand-guard that takes an upward shape of angel wings, a heart on the shaft of the weapon, and a pointy silver tip.

This person is using the Keyblade backward, and moves and attacks so fast, it's like this person is a master.

The hooded figure takes out the Heartless almost as fast as King Mickey, and even though overwhelmed by the monsters, manages to win the battles and move on to the next.

* * *

At the center of the battlefield in the Moriya Shrine, Ail, Mickey and Suwako attack Opposite Armor as hard as they can, but even Mickey is finding this battle a little hard.

Ail jumps toward the left pincer, twirls in the air, and with the momentum gained, he strikes the pincer, blows it up, and it disappears.

Mickey exclaims "nice one!", and when Ail lands, he replies "thanks, but this thing's just not going down yet!"

The large Heartless suddenly gathers itself up, takes the shape of what looks like a make-shift airship, then rockets forward, knocking Suwako right out of its way and pushing Mickey back.

Ail manages to roll out of the way in time, then rushes after the armored monster and strikes a cross-combination with his Keyblade of light.

The Opposite Armor turns around and strikes Ail on the chest with its remaining pincer, so Mickey takes the chance, jumps toward it while spinning, strikes it several times, and the pincer explodes and disappears.

The monster seems furious about it and sends the claws after Mickey and Ail, but Suwako dives toward the claws and knocks them to the ground, then shouts "take them out now!"

Mickey points his Keyblade at one claw, raises a spell card on his left hand, and shouts "Fire Sign, Fira!", and a large fireball, accompanied by several fire bullets, fly straight toward one claw and explode on contact.

Surprised, Mickey smiles and says "well, that was a nice effect."

Ail rushes toward both claws, raising a spell card on his left hand, and shouts "Blast Sign, Soothing Spread!"

Normally, Ail alone would be surrounded by large orange orbs, but his spell now affects Mickey and Suwako as well, surrounding the surprised party with five of those large orange explosive orbs each.

Ail approaches the two claws and starts his attacks with his Keyblade, and at the same time, the orbs explode when they touch the claw the boy is attacking, absorb some of its power, pass it on to the dense one, and healing his wounds.

Before Ail is done, both claws suddenly rise and spin around, but to Ail's incredible luck, his last exploding orb touches the claw Mickey had weakened before, making it explode and making the other stop the attack and fly away.

Suwako chases after that claw, cuts its escape, then strikes it five times with her rings, making it explode after she uses both rings for the last, sixth strike.

Mickey suddenly shouts "look out!", then pushes Suwako away from a massive black orb that Ail intercepts and deflects with his Keyblade.

The orb came from the torso and head, which have now taken the shape of a cannon, and are moving around fast and shooting more of those dark orbs.

Suwako gets up on her feet and says "it's desperate! Let's get him!", then runs after it, with Mickey running behind her, while Ail keeps doing his best to continue defending against those orbs.

Suwako and Mickey jump high to reach the cowardly Heartless, then spin and twirl in the air to strike it hard with their weapons, at the same time as Ail's orbs explode on it and absorb its energy.

Both Mickey and Suwako feel refreshed after their last orbs smack the Heartless, and both are hitting harder as well, but the monster is still there, and it continues shooting those orbs at Ail.

The half youkai deflects yet another of the orbs, but misses his chance to surprise the monster when the Opposite Armor moves away.

Ail has had enough, and readies himself for the next attack, not noticing the two crows quietly diving toward him.

They tackle Ail's back the very moment the large orb is in reach, causing him to stumble straight at the shot, then yelps when the large orb explodes on his face.

The hit was hard, but not hard enough to knock him out, so Ail stumbles on to this feet, swings his Keyblade wildly behind himself, manages to take out one of the crows, then takes a deep breath through his mouth, turns around and sees the next large orb is close, and instead of striking it with his Keyblade, he turns the weapon sideways and pushes the orb back, managing to send it straight at the Opposite armor's next location and stunning it when it's hit by its own attack.

Suwako shouts "Mickey! Up!", links her hands under her knees, then Mickey runs to her, places his left foot on her hands, then she pushes him up with all her might.

The mouse points his Keyblade up and spins around like a drill, breaks right through the Opposite Armor's torso, and exits through its back along with a massive crystal-pink heart that flies away to the sky, and the large armored Heartless starts shining brightly as it disappears from sight.

Ail walks to regroup with his friends and laughs at the sight of Mickey sprawled on the ground while chuckling, and the sight of Suwako kneeling next to Mickey, smiling while panting.

When he reaches his friends, the brown-haired boy chuckles, then says "that was freaking hard."

Suwako takes a deep breath, smacks her lips once, then says "oh, come-come on. That was just... just a warm-up, heh-heh."

Mickey chuckles as he sits up, then says "come on guys, enough joking around. Our friends need our help."

Right after he says that, the remaining Heartless around the shrine either run away, or turn to blobs of darkness and disappear, and to this, Cirno exclaims "hey! Don't run away now! I was just getting started! COME BACK!"

Suwako, Ail and Mickey start to chuckle, progress to laughing, then the half youkai calls off his weapon, stretches his arms, then lets himself fall backward on the ground.

He stops laughing, takes a few breaths of air, notices how the stars in the sky have become visible once again, then says "this victory would be even better if we had some of Sanae's cake."

* * *

The sun has started to rise over the land of Gensokyo when Ail, Mickey, Cirno, Goofy and Kyo make ready to return to the Hakurei Shrine.

Mickey, Kyo and Goofy shake hands with Kanako and Suwako, while Suwako says "that was fun, you guys. Do come by again for another party like that."

Kanako sweats, smiles nervously, then says "don't listen to her. She's just a bored little froggy."

A vein pulsates on Suwako's hat and forehead, then says "well, at least I'm not an old hag with puffy grandma hair."

In that instant, the goddesses engage in a cheek-stretching fight in front of the guests, and all said guests can do is chuckle nervously and watch.

Ail, who has his Yozoragan mode activated, and is wrapping Sanae with his ethereal wings to heal her, kisses the maiden's forehead and says "at least you now understand why I couldn't come when you used the whistle."

Sanae nods, looks down to the ground, then says "I'm sorry I doubted you, and as soon as I am better, I'm going to look for you and help you out. Dammit, I feel so useless."

Budou wraps her hands around Sanae's neck as she peeks her head around Sanae's left shoulder, then says "mama Sanny is never useless! She fought hard! It's Budou that needs to work harder!"

Ail chuckles, his wings disappear, his eyes return to normal, then he smiles as the rubs both Sanae and Budou's heads and says "you just focus on recovering yourselves for now. We will take care of this mess, and I'll be back before you know it."

The three giggle as they look at each other, then Sanae suddenly kisses Ail on the lips, thus creating quite a show for the many onlookers inside the shrine.

When the two of them realize they have an audience, they stop their kiss, their faces turn tomato red, then both stammer for a bit, before Budou laughs and says "ooh! Mama and papa's cheeks are all red."

To relieve herself from the awkwardness, Sanae angrily exclaims "you're all just jealous!", making Ail chuckle as he gets off the couch to join the leaving party.

Kyo turns around to look at Aya, and the helpers from the Youkai Forest, then asks "what about the Tengu Village?"

Aya closes her eyes and shakes her head, then says "quite a few of us have disappeared, and Lord Tenma will be out cold for a bit. Recovering from this will take some time."

Kyo and Goofy nod at the same time, then Goofy says "be sure to give us a holler if you ever need some help again, Miss."

Aya smiles and nods, then Cirno suddenly jumps in front of Kyo and Goofy, waves her right arm, then says "if you guys need help from me again, I'll be at the other shrine!"

Hina, Nitori and Minoriko chuckle nervously, while Shizuha, almost moved to tears, exclaims "please take care miss Cirno! Thanks for your help!"

The other three girls start nodding and smiling weakly when they start agreeing with Shizuha, so Ail leans closer to Cirno and asks "what did you do?"

Cirno proudly replies "saved their butts from those green fish Heartless things by the river."

The Hakurei Shrine party exits the Moriya Shrine's living house, Ail takes the front, then suddenly gasps.

The hooded figure stands several feet away next to a large tree, holding the ivory-colored Keyblade backward on the right hand, then nods and vanishes behind the tree.

Ail blinks twice, rubs his eyes, but before he can say anything, Mickey rushes to get closer, but stops and asks "Ventus? Ventus, is that you?"

He turns around to look at Ail after the hooded figure vanishes, then says "that's Ventus' Keyblade, Lost Memory!"

Ail and Kyo look sternly at the tree where the figure disappeared, then Ail says "seems there's more than just you three visiting Gensokyo."

Kyo nods in assent and says "let's just hope he's not the one causing this mess."

Mickey keeps his eyes locked on the tree, even after Ail opens a gap to the Hakurei Shrine and calls for him, then sighs and thinks "but that can't be Ventus... His heart was lost, so there's no way... Who could that be?"

* * *

At the Hakurei Shrine, Mima, Patchouli and Donald stand behind Marisa, who sits by the small table at the shrine's entrance while drawing on a piece of paper what looks like an ancient rune in the shape of a flame.

The witch seems focused on her work, even though her eyes look puffy and dark from lack of sleep, and as she traces the pen around the paper, she sticks the tip of her tongue out and closes her right eye.

She slams the pen to the right side of the paper, groans loudly, then shouts "FINALLY! They are done!"

The three magicians behind her cheer at the same time, then Ail's gap opens up behind them, and Kyo, Goofy, Cirno, Ail, and finally, Mickey, walk out of said gap before it closes up.

Seemingly unimpressed, Mima says "well, you're back earlier than I expected."

Kyo asks "so, you're still working on that?"

Marisa groggily says "oh, we're done with that... ze."

Mima smiles, then says "thanks to mister Donald, we were able to come up with a way to track the incoming signals."

Donald blushes and aws, then Patchouli places her hands on his shoulder and says "his magical knowledge is quite amazing. I never thought of treating the three signals as a whole single signal to actually manage and track them down separately."

Obviously annoyed, Marisa scoffs, then says "that was just a lucky guess."

Ignoring Marisa, Donald blushes as he looks up at Patchouli and says "no need to thank me. All I did was suggest something. You did all the work, lady Patchouli."

Mima giggles and says "oh look, the bashful, blushing, little duckling is so humble."

Ail takes a step toward Mima and asks "and how exactly do we track these signals?"

Mima smiles, looks over to Patchouli, the purple-haired magician grabs one of the papers Marisa drew on, balls it up and covers it with her hands, then focuses her magic on it.

When she opens up her hands, she reveals that the ball of paper has become a silver heart emblem and says "you, Marisa and Kyo will be wearing these on your clothes, and with them you'll be able to feel where the signal is coming from," then offers it to Ail.

Ail grabs the offered heart, explores it in his hands, then says "oh, so these are like some kind of radar, or receiver, or something like that."

Patchouli nods and says "yes. Something like that."

Mima grabs the second heart emblem, and while she pins it on Kyo's left arm, and starts squeezing that arm as well, she says "and the signal will get stronger, the closer you get to the source. And as an added feature, Patchouli and I will be able to see what you see, so we'll be like your sort of assistants, in a way... I guess."

Patchouli pins the third heart on the tip of Marisa's hat, while Ail pins his own on the left side of his waist and says "well, at least we can start moving forward now."

Mickey walks to Ail's right, then asks Mima "and what should we do when we come across these sources, miss Mima?"

Kyo immediately says "whoa, wait a minute. You don't have to get involved in this."

Goofy places his hand on Kyo's shoulder and says "but we wanna help out."

Mickey nods and adds "getting involved in this doesn't seem like an accident. Master Yen Sid sent us here on a mission, and I believe it is our role to help."

Donald nods in assent and says "if the King says we'll help, then we'll help."

Goofy chuckles in his unique way, then Cirno loudly asks "hey, why don't I get one of those pins? Why can't I help out too?"

Ail kneels down and places his arm around Cirno's shoulders, then says "because you have to stay here and guard the shrine from the Heartless."

Mima, Donald and Patchouli turn to look at the crystal where Reimu is trapped in, then Mima says "I think she's laughing... harder than ever. At least... if she could, she would be rolling around on the ground right about now, I'm sure."

Ignoring Mima, Cirno smiles confidently and says "alright! You leave the guarding to me, the strongest fairy! Um, but, is it alright if I call for some help? Er, I mean, it's not that I need it, but being here all alone will be boring."

Ail looks around at his friends, smiles, then looks back at Cirno and says "sure thing. Just make sure you don't make Reimu angry again. We wouldn't want her breaking out of that crystal prison and strangle you."

Cirno gulps and holds her neck, then says "um... yeah, okay. I'll be good."

Mima happily claps her hands together, and sounding way too bubbly, she says "excellent! Now, how about we all rest for today, and get working on this tomorrow. I mean... you all look so beat up, and Marisa..."

They all turn their attention to the sleeping witch on the table, then Mima voice returns to normal as she finishes "seems she's out of order at the moment."

Ail nods, then says "alright. Today we rest, tomorrow we hunt. Hmm... there's something familiar about all this."

Kyo suddenly stomps on the floor to get everyone's attention, and sounding sarcastic, he says "say, why don't you tell us where the signals are coming from, or are we supposed to just guess with the radar-pins."

Patchouli calmly replies "one is coming from the Forest of Magic, so Marisa and mister Donald will be going there. Another comes from the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. Kyo, Goofy, you can take care of that, right?"

She looks at Ail with those unfriendly eyes, then says "the last signal is moving around, and quite often too."

Mima, looking serious at Ail, says "that's why I believe you and dear King Mickey should chase after this one, since you can use those gaps, and Mickey's plenty strong. There's something odd about it... and seems to be quite the strong signal too."

Mickey and Ail look at each other with determination, nod simultaneously, then Mickey says "we'll take care of this, no problem."

Mima smiles, nods, then says "excellent. Now, someone make breakfast. I'm getting hungry."

Patchouli immediately adds "I'll have some scrambled eggs, please."

Suddenly requests shower all around Ail, who sighs in defeat and says "fine. But I'm not doing the dishes!"

Later that day, Ail looks annoyed while everyone sleeps comfortably in their futons on the floor, while he finds himself cleaning the dishes at the kitchen sink.

He groans softly, then whispers "idiots..."

* * *

Over at Bahva-Agra, the red Gummy Ship chases after Iku, while Tenshi sits on its nose, wooing and cheering.

Aggravated, Iku shouts "stop playing around and stop that thing already!"

Tenshi shouts back "this is too much fun! Now way I'm stopping now!"

She looks back at the cockpit, then says "say, this thing is actually harder than we first thought... but it's so gummy."

The ship suddenly starts to twirl around, making Tenshi scream and hold on tight.

Iku shouts "please, just stop that thing before it knocks you out, Miss Eldest Daughter!"

Tenshi recovers herself and says "oh, I guess you're right. Let me just... eh?"

The ship reveals a pair of mechanical arms on its sides, grabs Tenshi with the right arm and pulls her off itself, then Tenshi screams "KYAH! It's grew arms! Iku, save meeee!"

Iku shouts back "oh great! I told you to stop it when you had the chance!"

Tenshi cries "Ikuuuu, save me, please!"

The ship starts twirling around, throws Tenshi away to the farthest skies, then speeds up and drills through Iku, sending her to crash face-first against a lone peach tree, knocking out all the fruit on it, then flies in the direction it threw Tenshi, speeding up once again.

Iku moans as she tries to get back up on her feet, uses the tree as a support, closes her spinning eyes, then says "this is what I get for hanging out around that celestial. Uuu~! If I could just catch myself a husband, I wouldn't feel the need for some company."

She opens her recovered eyes, sighs, looks down to the ground at the fallen peaches, grabs one, and while biting down on it, she says to herself "eh, whatever. Husbands are overrated anyway."

From the distance, Iku can hear Tenshi's voice, echoing "save me Iku~!", but simply shrugs and takes another bite off her peach with a calm look on her face, while the fallen celestial cries all the way toward the city of Bahva-Agra, hoping to find help there.

* * *

To be continued...

Touhou-Project Shrine Maiden elements belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Kingdom Hearts elements belong to Square Enix and Disney Interactive

Credits for Cirno's "Advent-Cirno" style go to its creator.

Ail, Kyo, and Budou and extra elements were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

MAR 22 2011 (Updated MAR 2 2012)

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Thank you for reading this far. Now, I will repeat this for the last time. Depending on how many visits and reviews this fiction gets, I'll either go linearly to the end, or add chapters, characters and more Kingdom Hearts elements. Please note that chapter 4 will take me a long time to finish, though hopefully not. All depends on many factors. I hope you don't mind me adding original Heartless into this, but I need to do this in order to move the story along, and make it feel complete. Also, though the OC (original characters) involvement is pretty big, I hope I am doing a good job at balancing that out by adding Touhou characters to each party. I hope you are enjoying this so far, and thank you again for reading.**

* * *

This chapter's new Heartless

Green Requiem - This Heartless moves around above the battlefield and rings its body like a bell. When it does this, it's actually healing all the other Heartless around it. They move around a lot, but are easy to hit, and have very little health, so taking them out first is a must, but doesn't become a drag.

Large Body - Like its name suggest, this Heartless is large. Its belly and chest deflect normal physical attacks, but not magic, or skill/special attacks. It's still best to attack it from behind, or on its head. It moves around slowly, hits hard, but it has a short attack range. When its health is low, it will charge around and body-slam one particular target, but, of course, will hit anyone white gets in its way.

Boss Heartless - Guard Armor - Opposite Armor - They are the same Heartless, but as the name suggest, Opposite Armor turns itself around to have its legs as hands, and hands as legs. Has higher defense and stamina, hit harder, as you may assume, and has various more attacks. Guard Armor is the basic form of this boss, and its main attacks are stomping its feet, swinging its arms around itself, and twirling its torso like a top.

Original Heartless by Willie G.R.

The crows - Not the most imaginative name, but I couldn't come up with something Kingdom Hearts-worthy. They always fly in packs around and above the battlefield, and their attacks mostly consist of diving and scratching with their claws, biting, or simply tackling hard. Being from Gensokyo, they can also attack with Danmaku, but only if they are strong enough to do so, and it's only fairy-level strong.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Take notice that the following chapters will take place the same day, however I opted to separate the adventures into one-per-chapter, instead of cluttering all three at once in various chapters. To make things clear, I'll be sure to add the day at the beginning of the chapter, and let you know what time of day it is during the events that take place. Hope it's not confusing for you, and hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

**DAY 1 - MORNING**

Under the large red gate over at the entrance to the Hakurei Shrine, Cirno and her four friends prepare themselves for what lies ahead of them.

The ice fairy stands in front of her friends, while they all stand in attention with straight backs, sharp eyes, and courageous hearts.

At the line, from left to right, are Daiyousei, Wriggle Nightbug, Rumia, and Mystia Lorelei.

Daiyousei's attire has changed quite a lot since her ordeal with the Heartless at the Misty Lake.

She wears a pink shirt that hangs from her neck and crosses around her chest, making her look a lot more curvy than usual, a pair of golden bands secure above her elbows, which hold a pair of pink detached sleeves, a purple strapless leotard underneath her shirt, a blue armored skirt that hangs around her waist and covers the side of her legs, but leave the front a bit open, and a pair of thick white socks and brown shoes.

She also wears a thin brown belt that crosses her waist underneath the skirt and her right shoulder and holds a small green staff on her back, and because her back is bare, her gold and translucent wings look more free and maneuverable.

Wriggle has short teal hair, a pair of bug antennas on her head, blue eyes, and wears a white shirt with the right sleeve torn off, a long black plated cape that's red on the back, dark-blue shorts that just cover the top of her thighs, a belt with a pair of batons on each side, and a pair of brown shoes.

Rumia as short blonde hair, red eyes, has a ribbon on the right side of her head, and wears a black, long-sleeved leotard with a pair of dark-brown pants, a black short sword on a make-shift rope-belt, and a pair of ankle-high black boots.

Mystia has short pink hair, pointy owl ears, grey eyes, and wears a round brown hat with wings, a silver breastplate over a brown shirt with wing-shaped ribbons, a long brown skirt with small silver plates around the waist and beside her legs, and a pair of brown calf-high boots.

She also has a pair of purple wings with pink feathers on her back, and sports a set of long, sharp-looking claws on her fingers, which appear to be her weapon of choice.

Cirno paces left and right in front of the girls, then loudly says "alright, listen you lot! I called you here because we have a very important mission. Weird creatures called '_Heartless_' are threatening our homes, and this shrine."

Cirno stops when in front of Rumia, who seems to be smiling as though there's not a single care in the world at the moment.

The little ice fairy places her face close to Rumia's and continues "if this shrine falls, then we can kiss our homes goodbye, because if this place falls, so does Gensokyo. At least... that's what Ail and the scary green-haired ghost lady said!"

Cirno continues her pacing around, looking very important while raising her right arm to show off her cool black sleeve, and her brand new watermelon-shaped sword on a sheath on her back, then stops.

She looks at Daiyousei, then says "so we must NOT let this place fall into the hands of the enemy! No matter how many monsters there are, as long as we watch our backs, we will prevail. So NO RUNNING AWAY!"

Daiyousei starts to shiver and whimper, nods rapidly and nervously, then Cirno whispers to her left ear "just stick close to me and watch my back, ok Dai-chan?"

Daiyousei relaxes and nods, and even though Wriggle heard the whisper, she decides to keep quiet about it.

Cirno walks directly underneath the large red gate, turns around and makes sure to tap her brand-new black army boots loud enough for all to notice them, then grins.

She suddenly gasps, smiles nervously, then says "oh, before I dismiss you. Um... mister Ail wanted me to tell this to you. Ahem."

She places her left hand in a hidden pocket on her skirt, pulls out a large note, then reads "be sure to drop as many items or coins these creatures may drop from their carcasses into the donation box, so when Reimu breaks free from the crystal prison, she won't murder you lot for the co-collat-llateral... Um, collateral damage you are sure to cause."

After she reads this, all four girls look at Cirno with surprise, then the ice fairy chuckles nervously, shrugs casually, then says "Reimu's in a bad mood because she got trapped inside a crystal, so it's best we don't make her madder, for now."

Rumia giggles and asks "is that so~?", while Wriggle wriggles her lips and says "great. I should have stayed back home."

Cirno shrieks, then exclaims "but then I'd be all alone and bored!"

Daiyousei and Mystia cross their arms over their chests while looking sternly at Cirno, and Rumia chuckles mischievously, while Wriggle groans and face palms hard.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the entrance to the Forest of Magic are Donald and Marisa, and although the duck looks wide awake and ready for anything, Marisa looks tired, bored, and ready to hit the bed again.

The Forest of Magic, as the name implies, is full of trees that seem to clutter together to cover the sky.

Its seemingly harmless bushes hide all sorts of magical mushrooms that constantly expel spores, and mixed with the little visibility to the sky between thick and bushy tree branches, anyone new to this forest can, and WILL easily get lost.

Along the trees and magical mushrooms, youkai, spirits, and all sorts of magical creatures live in the forest in harmony, though not in peace; certainly, a place like this is a paradise for magicians, thus the reason why Marisa lives here.

Marisa lazily taps the silver heart emblem on the tip of her hat, then groggily says "this stupid thing must be faulty. The signal feels like it's coming from MY house!"

From within the emblem, Patchouli's calm and soft voice come through as she says "it seems that cluttered dump you call a house has whatever you are looking for. Are you sure you didn't steal something strange and just dropped it in there recently?"

Marisa growls, then says "I'm not a thief! And watch that tongue, or I'm raiding your damned library as soon as I'm don here!"

Donald stares with surprise at Marisa while Patchouli says "well, looks like someone ate the wrong mushroom this morning."

Marisa looks at Donald, realizes her un-lady-like behavior didn't go unnoticed, then sighs and says "well, it's seven-thirty in the morning, and I am _awake_ when I should be **sleeping**!"

Donald crosses his arms over his chest and clicks his tongue while shaking his head in disapproval, then says "what a lazy and mediocre magician you are. A real magician draws energy from around him or herself to keep rejuvenated, for long periods of time if needed. Even a mediocre like YOU should be able to accomplish this at a basic level in the least."

The loud-mouthed duck finds himself being held by the cheeks and lifted off the ground by one frightfully cranky black and white witch, who looks at him straight in the eyes and menacingly says "don't. start. with me. duck!"

There is a loud explosion from nearby, and the surprise saves Donald from further torture, but earns him a quick fall to the ground, while the distracted witch looks away toward the explosion.

While the duck groans and rubs his cheeks, a man's scream echoes through the forest, then Marisa exclaims "Kourin! C'mon Donald! Looks like Kourin's in danger!"

Donald wants to get up and throttle Marisa with an unholy load of spells on the face, but the black and white one grabs him by the hand and drags him along with her as she runs through the trees and bushes with haste.

* * *

Kourindou; a small house/store located near the entrance to the Forest of Magic.

It is actually an antique shop, though the owner mostly sells good from the outside world that happen to cross Gensokyo's border.

The house looks like a normal wooden home with a blue roof, but what differentiates this from other homes is the large sign that reads "Kourindou" just above the door, which has an open-closed sign on it, and a large glass dome on top of the roof.

Around the 'store' lie various goods, including dented golf clubs in a tall bag, a large blue bowling ball, and ceramic pots of various shapes and sizes, some with adornments made with materials from outside Gensokyo, while others look like actual antiques.

Inside the house there are a few shelves in the first room, which is obviously the actual store.

The shelves are littered with all sorts of items from the outside world; most are modern and cannot be used in Gensokyo at all, unless you are looking for a fancy adornment for your home.

At the back of the store is a large desk with an old cash register, and on this desk are even more items for sale.

Behind the counter is a door with a dark-blue curtain with letters in white that read "do not enter", which leads to the bathroom and the bedroom of the house.

Marisa and Donald stand outside the store and stare on with their arms hanging limp.

There is a loud thud from inside the store, then a man yells "hey, you're going to break that!"

An unfamiliar girl's voice, replies "jeez, sorry! Try fighting these things in an enclosed space!"

Marisa looks tired, bored, and just about ready to turn back and ignore the store.

Donald continues staring at the door of the house, then asks "so, are we going in there, or not?"

Marisa takes a breath of air to ready herself to speak, and from inside, the man says "wh-whoa! My heart feels funny."

Marisa wakes up with a sudden gasp, she and Donald press their faces together, then both shouts "the Heartless!", and run into the store with haste.

Inside, a man with short silver hair, yellow eyes, wearing a blue and black kimono shirt, long black pants, white shoes, a pair of glasses, and a large brown bag around his waist, smacks a Shadow from his desk with a thick brown book.

He looks at the door and exclaims "Marisa! Watch out! These things are everywhere!"

Marisa holds her broom with both hands, surrounds it with magic, scowls, then says "don't worry. We'll take care of them!"

After Donald and Marisa move into the store, the man loudly says "don't use magic, please!"

Both Marisa and Donald click the tongues at the very same time, but their annoyance will have to wait a bit.

Shadows are starting to pop out from underneath the shelves in the form of blobs on the ground.

The second those Shadows return to their original forms, Marisa and Donald smack their heads as hard as they can, and turn the Heartless into dust.

Before they can cheer, four more Shadows appear behind them, but the magical duo are ready for them, and turn around while swinging their weapons together and smacking two on the face.

The other two jump high, though Marisa manages to finish hers with a quick up-thrust of her broom.

Donald jumps after his Shadow and swings his small staff at the same time as the Shadow wildly swings its claws, then ends up getting pushed back, though he does stuns the creature.

Marisa takes the chance, swings her broom sideways, then turns the creature to dust.

Donald shoots one small fireball to the left and the right, and before Marisa asks, she watches as the fire consumes the two Heartless they pushed away a few seconds before.

Marisa sighs, winks and flips a thumbs-up at Donald, then says "and there you have it Kourin. The place is clean, and we didn't break a thing."

The cocky witch rests her broom on her shoulder, turns around to look at the man, and knocks a delicate glass ornament from the top shelf with the tip of her broom, and, obviously, it smashes to bits after hitting the floor.

The man groans and face palms, Marisa chuckles nervously, then pulls Donald in front of her and says "Kourin, this is Donald Duck. Donald, that's Rinnosuke Morichika, the owner of this store."

Falling for Marisa's distraction, Rinnosuke adjusts his glasses and bows his head slightly while saying "pleased to meet you, mister Donald."

The duck looks up at Marisa's confident smile, then says "wow, you're good."

* * *

Rinnosuke gets closer to the guests and asks "and what in the world where those things? They came out of nowhere, I started feeling funny around the chest, then they all jump at me."

Marisa's and Donald's faces turn stern, and Donald says "they are the Heartless."

Marisa adds "seems they are all over Gensokyo now. They appeared about the same time Reimu got captured."

Rinnosuke's eyes widen with surprise upon hearing the news about Reimu, but before he can ask, Marisa asks "hey wait! Kourin, who was here with you before we came in? I heard you talking to a girl."

Donald quickly adds "oh, that's right. I heard her too."

Rinnosuke gasps and says "ack! Yuffie! She chased one of those things to the back and never came out! Argh! She's probably looting the place right now!"

As soon as he finishes his sentence, the outside of the store sounds like clattering metal, and a girl screams and shouts "what the heck are these things? Where did they come from?"

Marisa and Donald look at each other, nod, then they both rush outside.

As soon as they exit the store, they see a girl jumping around and flipping in the air while throwing medium-sized shuriken at a large group of Soldiers in the clearing.

The girl has very short black hair that makes her look like a boy from the distance.

She has dark blue eyes, and wears a green tube-top held by two blue straps on the shoulders, a pair of tan short-shorts with a loose blue belt around her waist, white calf-high socks, light-brown shoes, a metal headband on her forehead, and a yellow scarf around her neck.

The girl lands on the roof, then says "hey, shopkeeper! There are too many, so you either pay me, or I'm out!", but then she notices Marisa and Donald, looks at them curiously, and asks "and who are you guys?"

Marisa and Donald grin with irritating confidence, both take a spell card from their pockets, then Marisa says "watch and learn miss."

The witch and the duck walk closer to the Soldiers, both raise their spell cards, then simultaneously shout "Duck Flare!"

Donald intends to jump on Marisa's back, but the witch catches him by his ankles, so the duck squabbles and complains almost incesantly.

Marisa focuses her magic around Donald and says "aww, don't be like that. Now SHOOT, DUCK!"

Marisa swings Donald around while skipping through the group of soldiers, and although Donald keeps squawking loudly, he summons small magical rockets, and with Marisa's magic mixing with his, those rockets home in on a target and explode violently enough to send three of four soldiers flying in the air.

Marisa spins Donald as though winding him up, then throws him to the air, where Donald composes himself, scowls at the creatures while taking a spell card out of his hat, then shouts "MEGADUCK FLARE!"

Countless small and colorful magical rockets appear out of nowhere and home in on the remaining Heartless, and every time one explodes, green sparks scatter and fall to the ground, fizzling out or catching a weakened soldier on the head.

Thanks to the magic, almost all the captured hearts are released, and when the shower of rockets end, only one Soldier remain.

Marisa gestures Donald toward the creature and says "be my guest."

The magician duck prepares a fireball, but long before he shoots it, a small shuriken flies past him and strikes the Soldier between the eyes, turning it to dust. Donald looks back at Yuffie, who is sitting on the edge of the roof, and scowls as he asks "hey~ What's the big idea?"

The girl hops off the roof and lands next to Rinnosuke, then smiles and says "can't let you have all the fun!"

Rinnosuke looks at the girl through the corner of his eyes and says "this girl seems so familiar somehow."

As he says this, he looks at Marisa, remembers her youth, but lacks the courage to say any more.

Marisa casually points at the girl, and asks "so this is Yuffie?"

The girl pouts, her cheeks turn pink, her eyes lock on to Marisa's then says "hey! Don't talk about me like some commoner!"

She points at herself with her right thumb, and with after closing her left eye, she says "I am the Great Ninja Yuffie, and I offer you my services for-"

Marisa interrupts Yuffie by saying "yap-yap little girl. You're not impressing anyone with all that talk."

Yuffie's cheeks turn red, she grits her teeth, foams at the mouth, then Rinnosuke asks "so who's up for some lunch?"

Both Yuffie and Marisa raise their right hands and exclaim "I DO!" simultaneously, then walk into the store with an arm wrapped around each others' shoulders, as though they were long-time buddies.

Donald points at Rinnosuke as he stares in awe, then says "you really handled that well."

Rinnosuke looks at the duck, arranges his glasses, then says "I did not understand what you just said."

Donald's reply is a quick quack.

* * *

**MIDDAY**

Marisa and Donald are walking through one of the darkest parts of the forest, and far behind them is Yuffie, who is lazily resting her head on her forearms while looking up at the tiny bits of visible sky between the leaves on the trees.

From the front, Donald asks Marisa "so, why don't we just fly already?", then he leans closer, narrows his eyes, and whispers "we can lose the girl in the process."

From the charm, Patchouli speaks before Marisa, saying "nuh-uh! If you start flying around now, you might either alert whatever it is you are looking for, or you might just miss it. Either way- Wait, hold on... Dammit, I'll get back to you later!"

Marisa concernedly asks "oi, Patchouli. What's going on? ...Patchy~?"

Yuffie has caught up with the party, and surprises them when she asks "maybe she needed to use the toilet."

After recovering from the shock, Marisa angrily asks "Yuffie girl, why are you following us?"

Yuffie smiles as she casually says "that silver-haired guy said I was annoying, and added that I needed to work hard if I wanted to eat again, so I came after you."

Donald looks at the ninja girl suspiciously, then says "so you're just a freeloader."

Yuffie smiles, winks at the duck, then says "I'm more of an asset to this party. You two are spell casters, I'm a melee tactician. It's only natural to have me around."

Ignoring her companions, Marisa magically separates two bushes, then says "well, just as I thought. We walked right to my home."

She pokes the emblem on the top of her hat and says "guess they're not as useless as I thought."

Yuffie stares at the large brown house and exclaims "wow~! What a messy barn."

Marisa doesn't seem to take the observation too well, but that's to be expected.

Her house is like a mixture of a Japanese, with a sort-of western house.

Plain wooden brown on the outside, has a dark brown roof, has weird red-with-white polka-dotted mushrooms hanging from the moss on the right corner and part of the roof of the house, and has a few vines clinging on to the second-floor windows.

The small clearing in front of the house is surprisingly neat, but the immediate back is being taken over by branches of the nearby trees.

The witch sighs to suppress the desire to send a fireball down Yuffie's throat, then whispers "keep your comments and your hands to yourself. Whatever's inside that house is **mine**! Touch anything, and I'll kill you; both of you!"

Donald nods, takes out his small staff, then whispers "let's go."

On the other hand, Yuffie just smiles and asks "why are you whispering?"

Marisa covers her mouth, and with a stern face, she says "you fool. There might be someone, or something inside the house right now. We need to capture whatever this thing is, to rescue my friend, and I don't want to scare it away!"

Yuffie stares at Marisa, smiles, giggles, flips her thumb up, then jumps to the roof with ease and enters through the second-floor window, all very quickly, and without making a sound.

Marisa blinks twice with surprise, then Donald tugs her shirt and whispers "come on. Let's get a move-on."

Marisa nods, then walks to the front door of the house.

Upon entering the house, the first thing in front of the door are the stairs to the second floor, and a second set of steps to a basement.

To the left of that is the small living room with its single red couch that has a small diamond-shaped sheet with tiny flowers designed around the borders on the backrest, thus giving it a slight feminine look.

To the right is what's supposed to be the kitchen and dining room, but it looks more like a mad scientist's laboratory.

Beakers, half-filled vials, bottles with brown substances, mushrooms, books, small dirty black cauldrons, and dirty, half-filled washtubs are some of the items littered all over the place.

The kitchen sink, single counter, and the stove, are all placed against the farthest wall, and all of them share a mess of items and dust on the top.

One thing this entire floor has in common is the mess and mountains of items of all shapes and sizes imaginable on the floor.

The mess is worst than Donald could ever imagine, and even spots a magical red cloth that looks like his king's lost fire-proof mantle.

Of course, this one has a hole with burn marks on the center, so he discards this thought.

Donald enters after Marisa, and tip-toes while looking around the cluttered mess of a home, then looks up the stairs and sees more piles of items.

He walks to the living room and carefully looks underneath the couch, wondering what he'll find, whether it be the source of the signal, or some manner of monstrous creature that loves messes, then whispers to himself "lady Patchouli was right. This place is a complete mess."

* * *

From the kitchen, Marisa can somehow hear the duck's comment, but decides to keep quiet for now and make him pay for such rude remark later.

She looks into the sink and grimaces at the sight of a pile of her dirty socks inside a black pot, then thinks "eww, I forgot about those. Dammit, the mushrooms died too. Guess they can't live underwater for too long."

There is a thud in the front of the house, and both Marisa and Donald, with weapons on-hand, turn around to face whatever made that sound, only to discover a small kunai stuck on the upper-right side of the entrance doorway.

They rush to the stairs and look up at Yuffie on top, who signals them to be quiet, then points toward the second-floor corridor.

Marisa takes the chance and smacks Donald on the back of the head, and when Donald turns around with a frown, she whispers "that was for the comment about my house earlier."

After the stairs to the second floor, there is a short corridor with more items in small clutters, the ladder that goes into Marisa's room at the attic, the door to the bathroom on the left wall with the toilet room next to it, and in front of that door, right next to the ladder, is a storage room.

Behind the stairs, just over the living room, is the window Yuffie used to enter, and as to how that ninja got in safely to the stairs without falling to the ground first makes Marisa question her own magical security.

Yuffie taps Marisa on the shoulder, and when the witch looks at her, she points toward the door to the right, then tilts her head toward it.

Both Marisa and Donald understand what the ninja wants, so they tip-toe toward the door, position themselves around it; Marisa in front, Donald to the left, and Yuffie to the right; then Marisa whispers "three, two, one."

The witch turns the silver knob and kicks the door open with a bang, rolls inside the room and aims her Hakkero around while shouting "PUT YOUR HANDS UP! THIS IS A STICK-UP!"

From the door, Donald and Yuffie sigh, then the ninja girl asks "don't you mean '_this is a bust_', or something more adequate?"

Marisa shushes her allies and whispers "listen!"

There is a strange zipping going on around the room, as if something is moving from one side to another within.

For once, Marisa is cursing the fact that she's so messy.

The room is dark because the two windows to the right wall are covered by mountains of collected items, only the top of the walls are visible, and thanks to the many cluttered mountains of items, whatever is moving around is keeping well hidden.

Donald and Yuffie block the door to prevent anything from going through there, while Marisa tries her best to pin-point the _thing's_ next move.

The sound stops, one of the item-mountains behind Marisa crumbles, then the window closest to the witch snaps open, but nothing can be seen exiting through it.

Marisa growls furiously and shouts "it's one the move! Donald, ninja-girl, after it!"

Yuffie pouts and shouts "HEY! My name is Yuffie, not ninja-girl!"

Marisa angrily shouts "whatever, just... huh?"

Three sudden muffles and a thud takes the party's attention, and Marisa, Yuffie and Donald reenter the room, close the door, slowly walk to the center of the room, then quickly jump on the muffles.

Thuds, crashes and clattering take the room, war cries from the party are next, and then there is silence.

After a few seconds, Marisa lifts her hand and says "let's see what we got here", then shoots a small but bright orb overhead that lights up the dark room, quite brightly too.

Donald asks "whoa. Fairies?", Yuffie sighs and says "jeez, this world is full of 'em.", and Marisa groans and asks "and what are YOU three doing here?"

Gagged and tied by the legs and wrists in the middle of the room, where the item clutters seem to spread away from, are the three mischievous fairies, Sunny Milk, Luna Child, and Star Sapphire.

Marisa sits on Luna, who has curly blonde hair, brown eyes, and wears a white mop cap with black ribbons, a long white, long-sleeved dress with three small black ribbons trailing to the bottom, a large black ribbon on the collar, a pair of brown boots, and her dress has black frills under the sleeves and skirt.

Her crescent-shaped wings seem to be separate from her body.

Donald sits on Sunny, who has short gold hair tied to twin-tails on the side by red ribbons, light-blue eyes, and wears a white headdress, a long red and white dress with a yellow neckerchief around the collar, white socks, black shoes, and her straight-oval wings seem to be detached from her back.

Yuffie sits on Star, who has long, straight black hair, grey eyes, and wears a large blue ribbon on her head, a blue dress with long white sleeves and yellow stars that seems to trail form the skirt's bottom to her waist, and pair of brown boots.

Her butterfly-like wings also seem to be detached from her body, and her eyes show some level of intelligence; though just **some**.

Marisa removes the gag from Luna, and the little fairy quickly says "we're sorry! Please don't hurt us!", to which Marisa just groans in frustration.

* * *

The three fairies now sit in front of the couch at the first floor living room with frightened looks on their face, while Marisa stands by the door, Donald stands in front of the stairs, and Yuffie just smiles and waves at the fairies while lying on the comfortable-looking couch.

Marisa looks furious; her target ran away, and now one of the pieces that could save her friend is hiding somewhere in a magical forest that enjoys making people lose their way.

She punches the door, making the fairies huddle together and whimper, then asks "one more time. What the hell were you doing here? How did you get in? More importantly, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING IN HERE?"

Sunny shakes her head and says "w-w-we came here to ask for help!"

Star gulps and seemingly calmly says "we were attacked by these black birds and came looking for you."

Luna whimpers a bit, then nervously says "bu-bu-but when we knocked on the door, it opened up, s-s-so we came in."

Sunny suddenly stands up, clenching her fists in the air while angrily saying "that's right! And then we met that stupid little girl that's immune to our powers! She lured us up there, tied us up, gagged us, and then she laughs at us and slaps our faces!"

Donald scowls and says "they're lying! Let's just give them a good whack and get on with our mission."

Luna and Star whimper louder, and Luna, looking cute with that acorn-shaped mouth of hers, cries "but it's the truth! Please, you have to believe us!"

Sunny keeps her eyes on Marisa's, as if challenging the witch, then Marisa says "so, you three are actually telling the truth for once, ze," to everyone's surprise.

The witch ignores the surprised faces and asks "so, a small girl. Who are you talking about? And this better be good."

Sunny flinches and hops back to hug her friends, then Star says "she, umm, it's that little girl that hangs around that pretty blonde lady with the dolls."

Luna nods and adds "you hang around with her all the time too."

Marisa rubs her chin and closes her eyes to think, and as she does, the feels where the signal is coming from.

Once she gets her bearings straight, she opens her eyes and says "Alice. It's gotta be her!"

From the emblem, Mima's voice sounds a bit static as she says "Marisa, we might need you to come back. The Heartless won't stop attacking."

Marisa looks up at her hat and says "we can't. We found out where the signal is coming from. It shouldn't take us too long now."

There is a pause, then Mima's voice comes in clearer as she says "I see. Well, please hurry. Kyo and Goofy have engaged with their target, and Ail and Mickey have already lost their target's track twice to come and help us."

Marisa nods, then says "alright then, we better stop a-yapping, and better start a-moving."

From the emblem, Mima says "you do that. And Marisa, Donald, be careful. I'm not sure how, but these things seem to be getting stronger."

Marisa and Donald nod, as if Mima could see them, then the blonde witch waves at the duck and the ninja to follow, but something catches her eyes when she looks at Yuffie.

She points at the black-haired visitor and exclaims "hey! Didn't I tell you not to touch my stuff? Those are mine, so put 'em back!"

The ninja girl holds between her fingers three glowing orbs, one purple, the other two green.

Though seemingly calm, Yuffie sternly says "you have Materia in this mess you call a house, and all Materia belongs to me!"

Before Marisa has the time to argue, Yuffie continues "you have no right to be holding on to MY Materia, so I'll be taking these!"

Marisa takes her Hakkero from underneath her hat, grips it tight, her right arm trembles with fury while looking almost demonically at Yuffie, then furiously says "PUT! THEM! BACK!"

Yuffie smiles as she challenges Marisa's glare with a playful gaze, suddenly flings her arm back, and all three orbs fly back into a pile.

Marisa quickly opens the door to her house and says "now everyone, **OUT!**"

Donald is the first out, and seem to be quite relieved about it.

Next is the still-smiling Yuffie, who promptly followed by the three fairies, and finally, Marisa exits the house and locks the door.

A little calmer, the witch starts running around the house, and shouts "now come on! We need to get to Alice, and fast!"

Donald runs behind her and shouts "right behind you!"

The three mischievous fairies fly after him as Luna says "we're coming too! That little girl owes us some payback!"

Yuffie runs after them while placing the three materia into some available slots in her weapon, snickers, then says "oh, these are all powered to the max. This will be fun... oh?"

A set of spell cards appear on her hand, then she smiles and says "card-based spell casting. Sweet! Just like that scroll I took from the store said!"

* * *

**AFTERNOON**

Marisa, Donald, Yuffie, and the three fairies arrive to the large, clean clearing where Alice's house sits.

It looks like a rather simple western-style house with a tower to the right side, with a clean blue roof, and clean and neatly adorned white walls and windows.

Underneath all the windows on the house, tiny flowers are planted on long vases, and thus, this house actually looks like it belongs to a woman.

Yuffie, Donald and Marisa stare at the house from behind some bushes, then the ninja girl whistles and says "wow! What a beautiful house. It's like I just came out of a house from hell and am looking at a house from heaven instead."

Donald nods in agreement and says "it's hard to believe Marisa's house belongs to a girl, huh?"

Marisa wraps her arms around her friends' necks, and with an annoyed smile on her face and an annoyed undertone, she says "ara~ Careful where you shoot those mouths of yours. You could run into some _unfortunate accidents_."

Donald and Yuffie struggle to free themselves, but as soon as they discover the futility of their attempts, they smile and chuckle nervously at Marisa, and long before they can apologize, the witch grabs them by the back of their necks, pulls them forward and knocks them together, making a loud and disturbing clunk on contact and letting them drop face-down on the ground.

The blonde witch now stands up straight with a satisfied look on her face while dusting her hands, then sighs and says "I knew those books I borrowed from Byakuren were going to be useful someday. Ah well, let's go and get this over with already. I would like to save Reimu TODAY."

Right after saying that, the three fairies fly past the witch, Sunny crying "it's the black things!", Luna adding "someone help us!", and Star shouting "just move faster!"

Marisa tries to grab Star before she's too far, but the little fairy is flying too fast and slips right through her 'sticky' fingers.

Annoyed, the blonde witch shouts "hey wait! Don't go running away now, you cowards!"

Yuffie and Donald are already out in the clearing when Donald calls "COME ON! There's too many of them!", and that's when Marisa looks behind her.

On the trees and all over the ground are yellow dots, antennas, metal hats, and large body suits.

Too many for her to count.

She smiles and giggles to herself, then casually says "oh-ho-ho~ shit. There's just too damned many of you."

Before long, Marisa is running towards Alice's house, but her run is cut off by several Soldiers, and another type of Heartless that appear from dark globs in front of her.

These look like tiny three-inch, navy-blue skinned girls dressed in purple longs-sleeved rags, navy-blue shoes with swirled tips, wearing tiny golden gauntlets on their right arms over their sleeves, have crumpled black butterfly-like wings that don't move, jagged-toothed mouths, yellow eyes, have long, flowing violet hair, and have the red and black heart emblem under their chins.

Marisa stares with caution at the new enemies and says "wh-wait a minute. These ones look like fairies."

From the emblem, Mima says "careful! Those things may seem weak, but they pack a punch. They can shoot danmaku, but their real strength is in their tackle."

Donald squawks a groan and asks "anything else we should know, Miss Mima?"

Mima casually says "oh yes. They absorb ice and water spells. Patchouli calls them Fluttering Furies. Hmm... they don't look that furious to me, but..."

Marisa cuts Mima off by hurriedly saying "alright, thanks for the heads-up. Yuffie, Donald, you heard the lady! No Water or ice spells with these things around!"

Donald and Yuffie simultaneously nod and exclaim "roger!", then rush toward the Heartless with their weapons held high.

* * *

Yuffie's mid-sized shuriken flies fast and hard against the Heartless and it returns to the ninja's hand every time she throws it.

Marisa thinks there's a string attached, but as long as it's helping them get rid of the enemy, she doesn't care.

Donald take out a spell card and loudly calls "Fission Firaga!", and shoots a large fireball toward a group of Shadows and Large Bodies.

The fireball touches a Large Body and expands in size while remaining floating in the same spot, and to Marisa's surprise, the ball of fire starts shooting smaller fireballs like rain toward the rest of the Heartless.

Marisa smacks a Fluttering Fury with the tip of her broom, looks back at Donald, then says "well, you sure are full of surprises, duck."

Donald grins, then says "I'm only using ten percent of my power. Once I get used to these spell cards-"

Yuffie screams after being sent flying back by a Large Body, and after landing on her feet, she exclaims "you can kiss each other later! We have a battle going on here!"

Marisa and Donald frown and blush, and while Donald squawks a complaint, Marisa says "you're a real nuisance, ninja girl!"

When she turns her eyes forward again, Marisa realizes there is a Large Body going straight at her with a body slam.

The witch screams out of surprise, flails her arms wildly, and out of the adrenaline rush, she uses her broom like a bat and smacks the creature's belly, making it fall on its butt on two soldiers and completely forget what it was doing.

After taking in some rapid breaths, Marisa recovers herself, clenches her teeth with anger, then aims her Hakkero at the creature and fires a small, but strong laser beam that sends the creature rolling backward, taking out other Heartless until it slams against a tree, then Marisa's beam finishes the Large Body off.

From behind the witch, Donald rolls his eyes while expecting the overconfident cheer from the witch, but is surprised when she instead shouts "this is NUTS! They just keep coming! And those flutter... thingies move too fast!"

Yuffie quickly adds "not only that. These guys are taking more hits to take down. They weren't this tough in the morning."

Donald smiles and takes a step forth, takes a spell card from his left breast pocket, then says "don't worry! I think this spell will-", but before he can finish his sentence, from the direction of the house, a girl calls "Curse Sign, Shanghai Doll!"

A thick dark-purple beam clears one whole side of the battlefield, while on the other side, a tiny girl dressed in red starts to sing.

Her singing weakens the Heartless and makes them all waddle and sway around, and while they are in that trance, Alice turns her beam to the other side, while Donald, Marisa and Yuffie finish the few Heartless between them and the puppeteer with quick melee attacks.

As soon as the last Heartless is gone, the blond girl says "and it seems I had to save your butt again, Marisa."

Marisa looks back at the girl and replies with surprise "Alice."

* * *

Alice Margatroid has blonde hair that reaches just below her shoulders, dark-blue eyes, and wears a pink headband, a long blue dress, a white capelet with a pink lace tied around the collar, a silver star, moon and sun hanging from a chain that's clipped to the pink lace, a pink ribbon around her waist that has a small silver fairy-shaped plate in the middle, and a pair of brown cross-laced brown boots.

She also holds a large black book on her right hand, tied closed by a pink ribbon.

To her left is Shanghai, who has long blonde hair, blue eyes, and wears a red ribbon on the back of her head, a long blue, long-sleeved dress with a white apron, and a pair of tiny socks and black shoes.

Next to Shanghai is Hourai, who looks exactly like Shanghai, save for her red dress, and curious facial expression.

Marisa takes a step toward Alice, but before she can make her move, Alice shoots a thin red beam from her finger at Marisa's right foot, then Shanghai aggressively says "see mom? I told you! She's bringing those black monsters here! Finish her now!"

Alice grabs Shanghai by her little waist and sits the little girl on her own right shoulder, then sternly says "Shanghai, sweetie, I can take care of this, so calm down."

Marisa is furious, but she knows Alice has the upper hand, evident when she and her party realize they are completely surrounded by glaring dolls hidden in the nearby trees.

Instead of storming toward her magician friend, Marisa asks "so, Alice. Why are you aiding the Heartless?"

From Alice's shoulder, Shanghai roars "liar!", then Alice calmly says "nice try Marisa, but I know the truth. Shanghai saw what you and your new friends did to Reimu."

Donald crosses his arms over his chest while tapping his webbed foot on the bare ground, then says "typical bad guy, pinning the misdeed on someone else."

Yuffie is on full alert, and has a quick spell ready, just in case.

She stands behind Marisa and whispers "enough talking. Just take her down before she kills us!"

Marisa looks back at Yuffie, grins, then whispers "you guys, I can feel the signal coming from her, but we need a distraction, or any move we make will be our last. Any ideas?"

Yuffie shrugs and shakes her head, though nobody is really looking at her, but Donald grins confidently and says "give me a second. I got something here."

Marisa grins confidently, already ticking Alice off with that grin, then says "so tell me Alice. How'd you do it? How did you trap Reimu like that? What did you use? Was it a spell, alchemy, runes?"

Alice takes two steps back; the look on Marisa's eyes, though that annoying grin is there, she can see the intensity in them.

The magician puppeteer hesitates for a moment and questions herself, but Shanghai brings Alice back from her hesitation after shouting "mama, she's trying to trick you! Stop being so stupid and kill them already!"

Hourai gasps, and while covering her mouth, she exclaims "Shanghai, sis. That's a little too aggressive, don't you think?"

Alice quickly adds "honestly Shanghai, I know she's annoying, but killing her won't do us any good."

Shanghai growls and flies away from Alice's shoulder, then the puppeteer is sent face-first to the ground when a giant black orb that looks like it has a constellation inside of it, pushes her into the dirt and keeps her pinned down.

That moment, Yuffie quickly jumps away, and Marisa grabs Donald, gets on her broom, then flies toward Alice's house using as much power as possible.

The many dolls that were aiming their glares at the party shoot red piercing beams through their eyes, and there are so many, they make a giant burn mark on the spot where the party was just standing on with the net of lasers that forms in the area.

Marisa falls from her broom after tossing Donald away, then rolls all the way to the front of the blue door of Alice's house.

She manages to look to the left at Donald, and can see he rolled all the way towards a tree and now has his webbed feet up against the tree, and his head on the ground next to its roots.

Marisa dusts her skirt after getting up, then points at Alice, looks confused as hell, then says "hey, wait a minute. You're not the source of the signal."

Alice grunts as she gets back up and whispers "that was a gravity spell," then looks up at Marisa and weakly asks "what are you babbling about?"

Marisa closes her eyes and starts pointing her right hand forward while holding her temple with her left hand, then hums.

Annoyed, yet seemingly worried, Shanghai asks "and what the hell are you doing now, stupid blonde?"

Marisa points at Shanghai, smiles, then says "so it's YOU! You're the one that trapped Reimu!"

Alice stands up and gets in front of the tiny girl, glares at Marisa, then readies herself to attack.

* * *

Marisa runs to the left to avoid the oncoming horde of dolls with lances, while Donald manages to push himself off the tree to fall on his belly just as several bullets of various colors strike the tree where his abdomen was, and when he looks at the hole those bullets made through the trunk, he screams a loud squawk, then finds himself running faster than Marisa, catching up and passing her by as he seeks a hiding spot.

Yuffie jumps off the tree branch directly beside Alice and readies an overhead attack, however, two dolls with swords appear from underneath the puppeteer's capelet and start spinning ferociously, forcing the ninja to squeak while evading the attack.

As soon as she lands on her hands and knees, Yuffie jumps far away from Alice and rejoins Marisa and Donald, then asks "does this girl have any blind spots? Jeez, she almost got me there."

Marisa's usual confident smile is missing, and as she puts all her attention on Alice, she says "she may look frail, but don't be fooled. She hits hard, and her dolls hit harder. Still, if you take out her dolls, you'll weaken her considerably."

Donald and Yuffie grin, then Donald says "let's make this quick and easy."

Alice summons more spinning dolls to her sides, dolls with shields on the front, and more dolls with lances above her head.

The dolls with swords start to spin, the dolls with lances start to shoot colorful bullets, and the one with shields are shooting small beams from their left hands.

The trio of would-be heroes find themselves scattering to avoid getting hit, and as they do Alice, in a terrifyingly ominous tone of voice, says "I promised I'd care for these children, no matter what. If you want to get to Shanghai, you're going to have to go through me, but I warn you that it's impossible for someone as weak as you!"

Shanghai raises her arms in the air, and without Alice's notice, creates a tall dark barrier around the clearing that quickly disappears from sight.

From the left side of the clearing, Donald comes across several dolls that look like Shanghai and Hourai, only these have dark-blue dresses, and they don't fly, they just march straight toward him.

The duck finds the dolls curious, but he knows they are bad news, so he instinctively takes his small staff on his right hand and smacks the closest doll.

The second the tip of his staff touches the head of the adorable little doll, it explodes violently, causing a chain reaction with the other dolls, and all Marisa and Yuffie can see is a cloud or red and black from where Donald's screams come from.

The girls call for Donald, and Alice takes advantage of the distraction and sends her dolls with lances straight at Marisa and Yuffie.

Marisa already knows this attack, and manages to move with enough precision to avoid getting impaled, but Yuffie is caught by surprised, and after a quick yelp from the ninja, Alice smiles and says "one nuisance less. Magic Sign, Artful Sacrifice!"

The puppeteer tosses three dolls toward Yuffie, who kneels as she pulls a lance off her right hip and leg, and by the time the ninja looks up, the dolls are on her face.

The first doll touches the ground, and all Yuffie can do is scream "BIIIITCH", while the dolls explode in a pillar of orange.

Marisa clicks her tongue, glares with fury at Alice, then says "dammit Alice. If you had just listen for once. But it's too late now."

The witch raises her Hakkero and aims it straight at Alice, then loudly says "Love Sign, Master Spark!", but doesn't notice the confident smirk on Alice's face.

The thick multi-colored beam flies fast toward Alice; Shanghai and Hourai both fly straight to the puppeteer's shoulders, then Marisa's beam hits them hard.

Marisa smiles when she sees her beam hit, but her smile quickly turns over when she realizes it's being deflected.

With surprise in her face, Marisa asks "wha? How-how in the world?"

Hourai giggles, while Shanghai says "you retard. You think I'm gonna let you hurt this girl? Gimmie a break! I need to eat, you know."

When the beam dies down, Marisa realizes the shielded dolls had their shields reinforced with a secondary magical barrier made independently by the two tiny girls.

With a drop of sweat rolling down the back of her head and a nervous grin, Marisa gulps and whispers "the impish midgets learned barrier spells. Great."

From the left, Donald shouts "block this! Blast Sign, Mega Flare!"

Donald reveals himself from behind the curtain of smoke and shoots a round ball of fire that flies five feet in front of him, then explodes violently, covering the entire clearing with a flaming wall in a second.

Alice, Shanghai and Hourai shriek as they try to maintain the barrier while the fire burns them, and even though Marisa is inside the spell, she isn't affected by it.

Yuffie suddenly moves toward Alice while glowing light-blue and moving like lightning, then jumps over the dolls and shouts "Thunder Sign, Thundaga!", and from her right hand, several bolts of lightning fly straight on to the dolls and trails through each of them, but only the small lightning bullets that spread from the bolts seem to be affecting Alice, Shanghai and Hourai.

Donald's spell cancels out, Yuffie zips away from Alice, then Marisa grins confidently while aiming her broom at Alice, and says "impossible is such an overrated word. Light Sign, Luminous Strike!"

The witch grabs her broom with both hands, and from its tip, a massive yellow orb with a star inside quickly flies toward the defenseless puppeteer, whose reaction is to grab the two little girls and turn her back to shield them from the impact.

Alice screams out loud when Marisa's orb of light hits, and is sent flying toward the invisible barrier, crashes head-first against it, then falls unconscious to the ground on her face.

* * *

As soon as Donald and Yuffie regroup with Marisa, the ninja girl raises her hands in the air, and after a spell card drops from her hand, she says "Cura", then right after the card disappears, small light-green sparks rain down on the three, healing all burns and wounds completely.

Marisa and Donald explore themselves, and sounding impressed, Marisa says "wow, thank you. I didn't know ninjas knew healing magic."

Yuffie smiles, giggles, then says "I don't. It's the materia you stole. They were all maxed out."

Marisa's face twists with rage and shouts "why you little monkey, I'm gonna-", but Donald tugs on the witch's shirt to get her attention, and points toward Alice.

Marisa angrily asks "what? Can't you see I'm bus-sy? EH?"

Shanghai is standing in front of the unconscious Alice, ignoring Hourai's pleas for help while she tries to get out from under Alice, and starts emanating a cold and powerful dark aura as she says "guess I shouldn't have relied so much on that blonde retard. Really, what an useless waste of life she is. Couldn't even stop you three."

Hourai pulls herself from underneath Alice and rushes toward Shanghai, then holds her twin sister by the shoulders and asks "sis! How can you say something like that about mom?"

Shanghai covers her arm with dark energy and punches Hourai on the face, cutting her lower lip and sending her bouncing several times on the ground toward Alice, then turns a tear-filled, yet hateful face toward the trio, then smiles with malice.

Though she smiles and laughs, her tears just won't stop, making the little girl look like an insane maniac that slowly rises from the ground.

Marisa and Donald stare with concern at Shanghai as she rises high, while Yuffie stares back with a cocky smile, then says "so, you say she's the one with the 'whatever' thing you are looking for. C'mon, let's take her-"

Marisa places her hand on Yuffie's shoulder, points at Shanghai with her left finger, then says "careful. There's something large underneath her. Look."

Yuffie squints her eyes and stares, then notices a strange, large squiggle underneath the tiny girl, and from it comes a strange, high-pitched gurgling.

Shanghai sniffles and snorts while wiping her face and nose with her right sleeve, then says "who needs family and friends when one has POWER! I command the Heartless! The do whatever the hell I want them to do, and none of them complain! And what I want now is for you three to DIE!"

Shanghai laughs out loud at the same time as whatever thing is underneath her roars a high-pitched gurgle, then the invisible creature seems to become small, and rushes toward the small party with Shanghai on top of it giving its position away.

Marisa, Yuffie and Donald all jump to the right to avoid the possible tackle, then the short-haired ninja says "yes, that's it. Don't split up again!"

They look to the left to see Shanghai almost above the house, then the creature under her starts to flicker into view until it's completely visible.

The creature looks like a giant chameleon with green skin and black markings all over its body, tanned on the bottom, large yellow eyes, a giant white horn on the tip of the snot, has five spikes on its back, its tail is coiled up, its claws are black and sharp, and has the black and red heart emblem on the chest.

It pounds the ground with its front legs then lifts itself up on its hind legs, and roars that high-pitched gurgle again and disappears.

* * *

Marisa and Donald immediately shoot various icicles, Donald's surprising Marisa because his icicles look larger and hit harder than hers, even exploding on contact and spreading smaller icicles around.

Marisa pouts and focus more magic on her own icicles, and manages to mimic Donald's to perfection, and upon noticing this, Donald says "lady Patchouli was right. You're a pretty skilful thief. You stole that spell right before my eyes."

Marisa blushes as she looks away, then says "I-I was just holding back... a bit!"

From behind them, Yuffie aims her right arm at the invisible monster and shoots a single blue bolt, then says "argue later! Bring that thing down NOW! Jeez, you two!"

Shanghai laughs, then says "so pathetic! Take THIS!" She shoots a pair of black bolts that land between the party and sends Yuffie flying backward, and Marisa and Donald flying closer to herself and the monster, then cackles and says "go Stealth Sneak! CRUSH THEM!"

Two white orbs appear beside Shanghai and they seem to be moving straight toward Marisa and Donald, but both are already on their feet and jumping away.

The orbs stop before touching the ground, then fly after each, and strikes them hard, but they both manage to land on their feet, regardless of the impact.

Marisa snarls, then says "I'm gonna spark his ass so hard..."

Donald holds Marisa's arm, chuckles, then flashes a spell card and says "let's try this one."

Marisa smiles almost too viciously, then pulls a similar spell card from her skirt's pocket and summons her broom to her left hand.

Meanwhile, Yuffie jumps over their heads and goes straight at Shanghai.

She manages to hold on to the creature's invisible horn when she lands on the head, smiles at Shanghai and says "aww, what a cute little villain you are. Too bad I'm going to have to maim you now."

Shanghai snarls as she raises her hands, preparing another pair of purple bolts, but Yuffie is quicker, and tosses a kunai on the Stealth Sneak's forehead, making it gurgle in pain and fling its head back violently.

The ninja uses the momentum to jump away from the creature, while Shanghai is sent flying backward to the ground, bounces three times while rolling backward, then knocks her head hard against her own barrier, which breaks away immediately after she is out cold.

The Stealth Sneak quickly loses its invisibility while it furiously tries to remove the kunai from its forehead by scratching itself with its claws.

To its far right, Marisa hovers three feet above the ground on her broom, while Donald stands beside her.

They both raise a spell card, then simultaneously shout "COMET!", then Marisa adds "Blazing Star!"

Donald starts to fly on his own while surrounded by an orb of light, and waits for Marisa to wind her broom back.

The witch lunges furiously toward the creature while surrounded in a thick magical barrier, and when she passes by Donald, the duck follows after her, matching her own speed.

Right when Marisa is inches away from touching the creature, Donald raises his staff, and countless colorful sparks appear out of nowhere and shower the Stealth Sneak.

Marisa then, tackles the creature so hard with her broom, it gurgles loudly in pain after the witch knocks it several feet off the ground and to the air and makes it fall on its back on the ground.

The monster gurgles softly as its body becomes limp, then Yuffie jumps from a tree branch, and once over the creature, she tosses a spell card in the air in front of her chest and shouts "Thunder Sign, Thundaga!", and after countless thick bolts of blue lightning strike the monster several times, the ninja throws a shuriken on its stomach, where it sticks just as a bolt of lightning strikes that very spot.

The creature actually roars as its body is electrocuted without mercy, and just like that, the monster becomes a cloud of black smoke and a giant crystal-pink heart flies toward the sky.

Yuffie stares at the heart with awe and asks "wait, what's that?"

Marisa and Donald fly on the witch's broom toward Yuffie, laugh while hug-tackling her, and after landing safely, Marisa exclaims "we won! We beat that thing!"

The witch suddenly turns around toward Shanghai and says "time to break whatever spell that doll-girl placed on Reimu. GAH!"

Marisa is surprised with a black bolt to the chest that breaks through her black vest and tears a bit of her white shirt while sending her flying a few feet backward.

Donald calls for Marisa, but he and Yuffie are paralyzed by another black bolt that surrounds their bodies.

All the way across the clearing, Shanghai has the black bolts under her control as she snarls and says "you'll NEVER release the Hakurei Maiden! This world will belong to the darkness, and there's nothing anyone can-KYAH!"

A powerful, thin red beam sends the tiny girl rolling away to the side of the house, and when Donald, Yuffie and Marisa recover, they gasp with surprise when they see Alice walking toward them with Hourai scowling and crying on her shoulder while wiping some blood off her lower lip.

Alice takes a few breaths, then says "d-don't let her get away!", but it's far too late, and Shanghai has disappeared into the thick forest once more.

* * *

**LATE NOON**

Marisa, Donald, Yuffie, and now Alice with Hourai on her shoulder, run through the thick forest in search of Shanghai.

After panting, Alice says "I'm sorry, I didn't know! I swear, there was nothing, not a trace of any alien magic on her."

Hourai adds "we're telling the truth!", then cries "she even made blueberry cupcakes last night, like she usually does!"

Donald looks annoyed as he says "it's fine, it's fine! Just help us find her before she gets away!"

Marisa gasps, then exclaims "we're getting closer! Everyone get ready. There's something different this time."

Marisa suddenly drops on her face and skids on the dirt, then holds her chest and grips it tight while screaming in agony.

Alice quickly drops on her knees to Marisa's right, then places her right hand on the witch's chest, and when it starts glowing white, Marisa starts to breathe through her mouth as she slowly recovers.

The witch starts trembling and asks "what's happening to me?"

Hourai sits on Yuffie's right shoulder, and both girls look at each other with confusion and shrug.

Donald gets closer to the magicians, then Alice says "you've been cursed, but it's a different kind of curse. It's not trying to kill you. It's trying to take your heart instead."

Shanghai's cackle echoes around the girls and duck, and from somewhere behind the trees or bushes, she contently and sinisterly says "she's going to become my new Heartless guardian. She's strong and stubborn, but she'll be mine in no time."

Alice looks all around and calls for Shanghai, but the tiny girl just laughs and says "I'm so sorry _MOTHER_, but you are no longer useful to me. You can just die along with those brats!"

Several Large Bodies, the weird Heartless crows and Fluttering Furies appear from clouds of black smoke, and now surround the large party.

Alice looks around, then asks "what the hell? They have crows too?"

From the heart emblem on Marisa's hat, Mima loudly says "careful! The Air Shadows may seem weak, but they can tear through anything with those beaks!"

Alice looks at the emblem and shouts "Marisa's in trouble! We're in trouble! We need help!"

Mima's voice inside the emblem sounds far as she shouts "can't help! There's too many of them over here!"

Marisa takes deep breaths through her mouth, and after a painful grunt, she says "we have to hurry! Find Shanghai and take her down!"

Donald and Yuffie both shoot lightning bolts at the Large Bodies and Air Shadows around the back, then Donald shouts "come and get some, Heatless!"

Yuffie chuckles nervously, then says "hey, don't agitate them."

The Air Shadows and a few Fluttering Furies join forces, and now the fairy Heartless are riding the crows, thus adding rather strong black oval bullets to the crows' attack pattern.

* * *

While Donald and Yuffie blast through the Heartless' ranks, Alice and Hourai defend Marisa, shooting colorful bullets, and Alice sending various dolls with lances at the crows and dark fairies along with the bullets.

Behind them, Marisa sweats, the skin around her eyes is turning dark, and every move she makes looks as though she's struggling with herself, and struggling as she is, she gets on her broom and says "enough of this shit. We need to take her out now. I have to save Reimu."

She lifts up to the sky before Alice notices, and when the puppeteer does take notice, she shouts "Marisa, what are you doing? You don't even know where she is!"

A Large Body aims to body-slam Alice, but to its dismay, she kicks it under its massive belly, growling "not a chance, fatty!", and sends it flying backward in the air, where it disappears into a cloud of black dust.

While on her broom, Marisa aims her Hakkero down and says "I don't care who or what is down there! I'm blasting this damned forest to dust until I find that little bitch!"

Inside her mind, her own voice calls loudly, then says "_what do you think you are doing? Marisa, you friends are down there!_"

Marisa groans, her eyes turn darker, then she says "don't. care. I have. to kill that thing!"

The voice in her mind cries "_no, Marisa please! Stop!_"

The symbols in front of the Hakkero start glowing purple, magic starts concentrating in front of it, then a little girl screams "NO! GET OFF ME, YOU TWERPS!"

Marisa stops her attack, looks down, and from a tree behind Donald and Yuffie falls Shanghai, followed by Luna, Sunny and Star, all three carrying small, but sturdy-looking twigs on their little hands.

Sunny falls right on top of Shanghai, pins her down, then smacks her hard on head with the twig and shouts "that's for tying me up, you little freak!"

Alice and Hourai turn around the moment they hear Shanghai's voice after one loud curse from said girl, then, with her cracking voice, Alice calls "Shanghai! Shanghai stop this right now!"

Donald tackles Alice and Hourai to the ground, and Yuffie grabs all three fairies and pulls them all away from the tiny girl, then large purple stars shower all around Shanghai, finishing off several of the remaining Heartless, and creating a large parameter around the little girl.

Shanghai grins viciously as she flies off the ground, then is swept by Marisa and taken above the trees.

Alice, Hourai, Donald and Yuffie stand up and stare up at the sky, while Sunny, Luna and Star chase after the remaining Fluttering Furies.

Luna stops for a second, looks back at the gawking party, then lazily shouts "hey~! Come and help us clean up over here."

Sunny and Star are already finishing off one of the black fairies after a smack on the head with the twigs, then Star shouts "forget them! We'll just claim a reward after we are done with this ourselves!"

Meanwhile, the staring party remains as they are, all gawking with awe toward Marisa and Shanghai.

Anxiety is taking over their senses, and each one opens his, or her mouth and leave them as they are.

Just above the trees, Marisa holds Shanghai with her right arm and cover her face with her hat, while she aims her Hakkero at her allies and readies it with dark magic.

Shanghai laughs excitedly, then says "the possession is complete! This witch belongs to me! With her by my side, this world will be covered in darkness in no time at all!"

The little girl gasps with surprise when Marisa grabs her by the waist and throws her away, but she quickly recovers and glares at the witch, and in a furious undertone, she says "dammit! That heart is more stubborn than a hungry cat!"

Marisa's hat blows away at that very moment, revealing the blackened skin around her eyes, the slimy drool on her chin, oddly colored tears flowing down her cheeks, and a look of confusion deep inside her eyes.

* * *

From the ground, Donald calls "Marisa! Remember your mission! You want to save Rei~mu~!"

Hourai flies a little higher and yells "sis! Please, let her go! You can stop this now, and we can go home and eat, and take a bath, and sleep with mom! I-I'll even sing you that lullaby you love so much!"

Alice takes a step forward and adds "Shanghai please! Take that curse off Marisa, give her what she needs to save Reimu, and let's just go home!"

Shanghai starts to giggle, then slowly progresses to a vile laugh, then to a maniacal cackle, then stops and shoots a black fireball at the onlookers without turning her head away from Marisa.

She looks at the witch, and in a sinister whisper, she says "that's it Marisa. Let yourself be consumed by the darkness. I guarantee you will LOVE IT!"

Marisa starts hovering with difficulty, and constantly loses control over her broom, yet she regains her strength and returns to her initial position.

Shanghai smiles, and loudly and sinisterly says "think about it. You'll be the mistress of this entire world. That self-pretentious Reimu will be gone, and you will be the indisputable strongest human alive! All you have to do is join us, and it will all be clear to you."

Marisa stops moving, her eyes become blank, and she remains unmoving, even after a harsh gust threatens to push her off the broom and blow Shanghai off the air.

On the ground, Yuffie whispers to Donald "so, you think we're going to have to take her on. Cuz' seriously, I don't think we can."

Donald's expression remains calm as he says "you have to trust in her. That's all there is. If she does go insane, I do happen to have a spell that should take care of her."

Behind Donald, Alice looks up and says "I really hope it doesn't come to that. She can be too stubborn. That makes her twice as dangerous."

Above the trees, Marisa involuntarily raises her left hand and places it on the hole on her clothes over her chest, then thinks "_yeah, that sounds awesome. With Reimu gone, nobody will ever question my power again! The spell card rule will be gone, and I'll be able to unleash my full potential! Nobody will stand in my way!_"

As she thinks this, she sees images of Reimu after they had just met.

How that young, naive, and incredibly lazy shrine maiden kept going forward through life, learning from her mistakes as she did.

As Marisa sees this, she thinks "_I should have killed her back then. Why did I stop though? Why didn't I do it?_"

After thinking this, images of herself battling Reimu come to the front of her mind.

Her hatred towards the maiden slowly escalates as she remembers one defeat after another, after another, by the hands of that same, lazy shrine maiden, then she remembers how much worst those defeats got when Reimu started to fly on her own.

Marisa's hatred reaches its peak, she lifts her Hakkero and aims it at her friends, and a dark purple energy illuminates the wooden octagonal block, and then she sees something else inside her mind.

She can see a friendly smile on Reimu's face; a warm, bright and peaceful smile, as she helps the witch up on her feet, and Marisa stops her attack once again.

Marisa trembles as she starts to think "_but wait. Reimu... I always liked her. Maybe it was her naivety, or was it something else? Whatever it is, I am sure I like her. Heck, I love that lazy maiden! She's so much fun to tease too._"

Another set of tears clean the witch's cheeks from the odd-colored tears from before as well as the slime under her chin, and she thinks "_true, I could be the strongest, but what about friends? Reimu's my best friend. She likes me for me, and doesn't really pretend. She... well, she does find me annoying, but she's honest about it. And if she's gone..._"

An image of the Hakurei Shrine, just as it is now, appears in Marisa's mind, and on its porch, Reimu sits down with a plate of sweets to her left, her mug of tea on her right hand, and a peaceful smile on her face.

She looks over at Marisa, greets her with a friendly touch to that peaceful smile, then says "_you come to play again? Fine, but I won't go easy on you... Oh, so that's how you like it? Good, 'cuz so do I!_"

At that very moment, Reimu disappears from sight, the mug of tea smashes on the ground below and becomes sand.

While Marisa's sight slowly rises, she thinks "_with her gone, I'll have nobody to talk to again! Sakuya doesn't really like me that much, Patchouli doesn't say much either, and Alice just bitches on about some noise. I'll be... alone._"

The witch's mental sight is now greeted by a derelict pile of dust and rubble that used to be the Hakurei shrine.

Her heart races, she wants to cry, but she also wants to scream, yet she can do neither.

She rushes over to the porch where Reimu was, waves her hands in front of herself to make sure Reimu isn't playing some game with her, and when she realizes the maiden is gone, she feels herself dropping hard on her knees, holding her head, and screaming to the skies.

Back in reality, Marisa screams to the sky as both light and darkness within her fight for dominance.

Below them, on the top of a tree, the hooded figure holds Marisa's hat, and after the emblem on the tip of the hat sparks white, the hooded person flies toward Marisa and tosses the prized hat to its master, then disappears from sight.

The hat clings on Marisa's left shoulder, and a white light beams from it, enters through her shoulder, trails to the witch's chest, and spreads all over her body as it pulsates like a beating heart.

The life of her eyes returns and the skin around them return to the usual color.

Her face regains its life and intensity, and with a determined look, the witch grabs her hat with her left hand, raises the Hakkero on her right hand and aims it at Shanghai, then shouts "I will never join the darkness! I'll die first before I let you kill Reimu!"

Shanghai clenches her teeth tight as she spreads her lips open, then flies upward to avoid a pure white-light Master Spark that shot itself from the witch's Hakkero without prior incantation or spell card declaration.

She looks down at Marisa, surrounds herself in pure darkness, then shouts "I gave you the chance you piece of shit! Now you can die along your friends, **and** your precious Reimu!"

Marisa places her hat back on, grins as confidently as ever, then says "whatever. Just drop already."

* * *

Shanghai raises her arms and threatens to hit Marisa head on with black bolts, so the witch protects herself with a barrier of light that comes from her Hakkero, but the bolts turn downward before getting too close and hit the ground around the party below, summoning another horde of Heartless.

Marisa growls and asks "could you stop doing that?"

Shanghai giggles, smirks, then says "I can't be playing fair now, sweetie," then shoots black icicles at Marisa.

The witch counters the attack with a shower of white stars, and once she's clear, she tackles the little girl while surrounded in a light-blue aura.

Shanghai's black aura is swallowed up by Marisa's light, but the little girl isn't going without a fight, so she fires a black spark-ball at Marisa's back, but the witch does one quick upward turn to avoid the dark attack, flies upside-down toward Shanghai, and when she flies above the little girl's head, the emblem on her hat sparkles, Shanghai screams, and a powerful bright beam reveals a small purple crystal embedded on Shanghai's forehead.

That instant seems to last a whole minute for Marisa, who stares in awe at that crystal and notices how it's about to fall off, then she flies away and turns over as she formulates a plan on that hard-working brain of hers.

Shanghai screams out loud and covers her forehead with her hands while hissing at Marisa.

The little girl's face looks feral, her pupils appear to be slitted, and the dark aura around her seems to be getting thicker.

Marisa positions herself to attack, but quickly yelps and flies away as fast as her broom can take her, screaming "oh, that's not good! Not good at all!"

She is now being chased by eight black Spear of the Gungnir replicas, and all eight are the same size as Remilia's full powered spell.

Marisa knows well, if one of those things hit her, there is no spell card rule that's going to save her life, so as she flies away, she desperately thinks how to survive.

She relaxes, scoffs, face palms, then says "well of course! Spell card rule!", then takes a spell card from her left pocket, places it on the hole on her chest, then shouts "Magic Sign, Stardust Reverie!"

A thick, white magical aura surrounds Marisa, stars fly out of the bristles of her broom, and her speed increases.

The stars both slow down and gradually consume the black spears, then Marisa makes an u-turn, speeds up even more, then aims the tip of her broom at Shanghai.

The little girl clicks her tongue as her glare becomes dark, intensifies the dark aura that surrounds her, then braces for impact.

Meanwhile, on the ground right below, Alice and Hourai finish off a pair of Air Shadows and Fluttering Furies with a blast from a dual beam, while Donald raises his staff to summon some bolts of yellow lightning and finishes off two Large Bodies, and Yuffie has a large spectral shuriken flying around her, while she kicks a few Shadows and a soldier and turns them to dust.

After the last of the Heartless are gone, Donald looks back at Alice, sighs, then says "finally, that was the last one-SQUAWK!"

Everyone on the ground flinch when there is a sudden explosion above them.

There is a thick cloud of smoke where last Marisa and Shanghai were seen, and now they watch as Shanghai falls through the clouds and plummets to the ground.

Marisa dives from the clouds straight down after Shanghai, catches the little girl before hitting the ground, and when she tries to stop, she falls off her broom, holds Shanghai tightly on her chest, then she and the little girl roll on the ground until they finally stop right in front of a tree.

Donald and Yuffie cheer "alright! She's SAFE!", while Alice and Hourai cry "oh no! She's hurt!"

They all take some time to stare as Marisa gets up and rubs her head, then all four rush toward their friends.

* * *

Shanghai lies on the ground with her hands spread to her side, her legs spread slightly open, and with a smile on her tear-filled face.

When the group gets close enough, they can see Marisa nod at Shanghai with a courageous and determined look in her eyes, then Alice and Hourai both sigh with relief.

It seems Shanghai is going to be alright, though they have their doubts when they see the tiny purple crystal embedded on her forehead.

Marisa looks over at her friends, nods at Donald and Yuffie, then says "this crystal is the thing that's got Reimu trapped. It possessed the little girl and forced her to do all those things. Well... at least that's what I think."

Shanghai coughs weakly, and sounding frighteningly weak, yet with a smile on her face, she says "please, take it out. It's asleep, but it still hurts. It's going to wake up soon."

Marisa smiles weakly and says "I'm going to need Alice's, Mima's and Patchouli's help. This thing is linked to your lifeline now, so removing it could cause-"

Alice cuts Marisa off when she shouts "alright, we get it! Enough of that morbid talk! Shanghai, let's just go and have that thing removed."

Alice walks over to her little daughter while saying "of all the stupidities! To think I didn't even notice that thing in there. I need to pay more attention."

Marisa lifts her Hakkero and aims it straight at Alice's face.

Understandably annoyed, Alice stops and shouts "Marisa, what the hell's your problem? That's not funny, so cut it out!"

Marisa casually says "you can't touch her, or this thing will take you instead."

Alice ignores the witch's warning and walks closer to Shanghai, angrily saying "of all the crap you can spew out of that mouth. Really Marisa, you can be so-"

A light violet spark from Shanghai strikes Alice on the stomach and makes her stumble back a few steps.

Alice stares with surprise and concern at her tiny daughter, who stares back with tears flowing incessantly from her eyes, yet smiles so peacefully, one would think that nothing is wrong with the world.

Before Alice asks, Shanghai speaks with a cracked voice, saying "I'm sorry for everything mama Alice, for everything bad I did. I didn't mean to say all that stuff. Will you forgive me?"

Hourai flies in front of Alice to get a better look at her sister, then gasps and flies behind her mama Alice.

The puppeteer stares back, then says "Sh-Shanghai; of course I forgive you! But why... what's wrong? Let's go and get that thing off your forehead."

Shanghai struggles to keep her smile, then she turns her face toward Marisa when she fails to keep it and says "Marisa is right. If any of you touch me now, this crystal will take over you."

Marisa lowers the brim of her hat, then says "Shanghai, I really don't know how to-"

The little girl grabs Marisa's right thumb with her tiny left hand, smiles again, then says "yes you do."

The emblem on Marisa's hat starts glowing pastel yellow, and what looks like a fuzzy spark slowly trails down Marisa and heads toward Shanghai.

Alice worriedly shouts "Marisa, what's going on? Gods dammit all Marisa, answer me!"

The witch lifts her head toward Alice, and in a soft tone, she says "I'm sorry Alice. This is the only way after all."

She then looks away and whispers "and here I thought I could buy some time or something. I can be so stupid sometimes."

The fuzz enters Shanghai's body through her little arm, then she starts to cry and shouts "I'm sorry mama! I'm sorry Hourai! Please, be good! Both of you be strong!"

At that very moment, both Alice and Hourai rush toward Shanghai.

Alice desperately shouts "Marisa, stop this! Shanghai, don't! **Shanghai!**", while Hourai cries "sis! Onee-chan, don't go!"

Alice and Hourai both rush closer, Alice kneels next to her little girl, she and Hourai grab Shanghai's right hand as it falls from her belly to the ground, and at the very moment the bright fuzz touches the crystal in Shanghai's forehead and becomes a blinding flash of light.

Through the blinding light, and with a calm and soft tone of voice, Shanghai softly says "Hourai, sis. That's the first time you call me onee-chan. Heheh, you should have called me that before. It sounds nice."

The little girl's body becomes a beacon of pure white light when Alice lifts her from the ground and calls for her little Shanghai repeatedly.

Shanghai softly says "I love you mama. Remember to be a very... a very good... girl. My. mama Alice."

A loud whirring noise drowns Alice's and Hourai's screams, and slowly, the light dims, the crystal falls to the ground and turns to white dust, and Marisa can see Alice and Hourai holding on tightly to Shanghai's limp body.

Maybe her hearing was affected by that loud whirring, but she can't hear a word they say, even though they seem to be screaming at the top of their lungs, allowing their own tears to drip into their mouths.

Marisa may seem thoughtless at times, but she is a kind soul.

She is grateful she can't hear those apparently-desperate screams, because just looking at them like that makes her feel like crying along with them.

Slowly, her hearing returns, though to her, it feels like it's returning far too soon.

She can hear the sobs and wails from Alice and Hourai, and now all she wants is to curl up and hide.

She feels responsible for it, but she knows she did it for a good cause; admittedly, she wasn't ready for this outcome, and so, she hides her face with her hat, sniffles and gulps, then looks around to distract her mind.

That's when she notices Donald and Yuffie are missing.

Marisa snorts and says to herself "wimps. Can't even stay for a bit of sappiness," then looks behind and notices sparks lighting the trees and leaves in the area.

She springs on to her feet and exclaims "Donald? Yuffie? What's going on now?"

From behind the trees, Donald shouts "WE NEED HELP~!"

* * *

**EARLY EVENING**

Marisa rushes straight through the trees, leaving that depressing scene behind, and immediately finds Donald, Yuffie, and that hooded person fighting off a large horde of Heartless that have trapped the three mischievous fairies and several other youkai against a dark purple crystal wall, and are attacking relentlessly.

Though the three fairies are actually fighting back with those sticks of theirs, Marisa knows they are only delaying the inevitable, so without placing much thought, she joins the fight after summoning her broom to her hand.

From the emblem on her hat, Mima desperately calls "Marisa! Marisa please answer!"

Marisa shouts back "sorry Mima-sama, I'm REALLY busy at the time!", then smacks several shadows with the tip of her broom and turns them to dust with a single hit each.

Donald is shooting fireballs like a maniac, but for good reasons.

He needs at least four to six shots to take down a single soldier, and it's evident on his face that he is getting tired.

Yuffie looks quite worried as she flips around like an acrobat, yet her kunai and shuriken seem to be bouncing off the Heartless, so she's resorting to adding thunder spells to each attack.

Donald looks at Marisa and shouts "we can't save them like this!"

The hooded figure strikes several Soldiers with a powerful string of attacks with her Keyblade, which has a red aura on its tip, then finishes the combo off with a strike at three Air Shadows, eliminating all and releasing their hearts, and the red aura on the Keyblade fizzles out.

The hooded figure, to everyone's surprise, shouts "Marisa, come and help me! You two, please heal!"

The voice sounds like a woman who is straining herself to sound like a man and is failing miserably, but there isn't time for a debate as Marisa and the figure are the only ones that seem to be strong enough to deal with the Heartless at the moment.

Donald and Yuffie step back and shower the youkai, the fairies, and Marisa and the hooded woman with healing spells.

Marisa and the hooded woman break through the Heartless' ranks with ease, and though the witch is only using her broom, she is also releasing hearts with every downed creatures.

She looks at the tip of her broom with curiosity and asks "whoa, when did I get so badass?"

The hooded woman shout "focus! We have to save them!"

Sunny and Star desperately call "LUNA! Wake up!", and these desperate cries snap Marisa from her confused awe.

As she smacks one Heartless after another, sending them to wherever dead Heartless go, she desperately thinks "_no! I have to save them! I don't want to see that again so soon!_"

The last in the ranks are several Large Bodies, but even with their round bodies blocking the view, Marisa can see the fairies holding on to a single other fairy on the ground.

She runs to the left, tackles the hooded woman out of the way, raises her Hakkero, then rapidly shouts "MASTER SPARK!", and instead of a multi-colored beam, she shoots a massive white beam that disintegrates the large Heartless faster than even she can realize, though seeing those large crystal-pink hearts flying to the sky in such rapid succession gives her a good idea of how fast.

After all the Heartless are gone, Marisa looks around to make sure there are no more, looks at Donald and Yuffie, then runs to the fairies, shouting "hold on! Help's on the way!"

It's too late.

Luna Child lies on the ground with a blank stare, a limp and lifeless body, and her two companions sobbing to her sides.

Sunny shoves Luna's right shoulder and cries "come on! Get up already! **Please?**"

Star looks up at Marisa and cries "help her! She's not coming back! Why isn't she waking up like she always does?"

Donald gets closer to Marisa, notices the distress and confusion on her face, then elbows her ribs and says "snap out of it! We gotta help her!"

Yuffie suddenly yelps, and now it looks like the ground underneath her is trying to eat her.

Marisa and Donald quickly run toward her, calling out to her, then Yuffie shouts back "crap! This is just like back HOOOMEEEE~!"

When the two magicians get closer, they realize Yuffie has been swallowed by what looks like a swirl of black gas, but before either can do anything about it, the strange portal closes off without leaving a trace.

* * *

Marisa drops on her knees, and even with Donald trying to help her up, she lets her torso drop forward.

She manages to hold herself from completely falling down with her arms, starts sobbing uncontrollably, then shouts "what- WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

From the emblem, Mima shouts "Marisa! What happened? Marisa, answer me!"

Donald gets closer to the emblem, being the only one that's still strong enough to speak, let alone stand, and says "Miss Mima! It's gotten crazy over here! Marisa broke a crystal from a very small girl, but she died! Then a horde of strong Heartless attacked and they killed a fairy too! And after that, Yuffie was swallowed up by black gas from the ground!"

From the crystal, Patchouli is the one to answer "thankfully, I can understand you! Listen, you need to get back here now! Kyo and Goofy are stuck in Eintei, we've lost contact with King Mickey and Ail, and we lost one of the girls here!"

Mima adds "those Heartless suddenly got stronger and gave us quite a lot of trouble, but that's not the problem. Donald, Marisa, the second you broke that crystal, a piece of Reimu's heart almost broke off. We managed to save her, but it was tough. We all need to regroup, NOW! Oh, and bring those you say were killed. I want to see them for myself."

Donald looks around, then asks "but Marisa can't move, the puppeteer and her other little girl don't want to move, and those fairies look too heavy for me alone."

From the emblem, Patchouli says "Donald, use that spell I told you about."

Donald groans as he looks around with a discouraged look, and says "I don't know. There are too many, and I haven't tested it out yet."

Patchouli calmly replies "Mister Donald, if there's anyone that can pull that spell off, it's you. Don't be discouraged. Just focus on yourself and the 'passengers', and you should do just fine."

Hearing Patchouli's encouraging words ignites the duck's heart, and with that sudden boost of confidence, Donald lifts his staff and loudly and confidently says "we will get there in two minutes, Lady Patchouli."

There is no reply, but for good reasons.

Donald seems to focus greatly, his staff starts glowing white with light-blue on the outline, then he becomes a ball of light, picks Marisa, the three fairies, flies over the trees, picks Alice, Shanghai and Hourai, then flies away back to the Hakurei Shrine.

The hooded figure walks out of hiding from behind a tree, looks up at the ball of light that is Donald and his passengers, then sighs.

A voice loudly says "_things got much worse. Master, are you sure we are doing the right thing?_"

The figure stands silent in front of the tree, then lowers her head and sighs again.

* * *

Inside the dark cave hidden under the Scarlet Devil Island, Kali sits on a throne she made out of the large purple crystal at the back of the room.

She has changed drastically.

Her eyes glow blood red with pitch-black pupils and look vicious, her hair now stands up and waves around like a flame, and instead of white, it is now silver with a purple outline.

The rest of her body and whatever ragged clothes she's wearing look raven black, though her outline reveal the fingers and nails on her hands have grown large, and she seems to have grown a pair of feet with crooked clawed nails.

She raises her right hand and summons the dark flame with the silver center, black body, and purple outline, and looks inside of it.

She can see two pieces of the crystal, and a translucent image of where the center crystal should have been.

She clenches her fist, the flame vanishes, she growls, and with a raspy and malicious tone of voice, she shouts "that weak little doll failed! I should have picked a better test subject when I was looking around the woods."

She sighs to calm herself down and says "bah! What's done is done. My two remaining dears will make sure we succeed. Still, to have a key bearer, and that blasted Ail... and now Marisa too. Grr, to actually manage to mimic those accursed Keyblades, she with a broom and him with a mere flicker of light!"

She gets off her throne, swiftly turns around and punches the backrest with all her might, causing a small tremor, then says "still, **she** took good care of the nosey king and that boy, and _she_ made sure that Kyo and that shield moron were put in their place! It's not so bad, I guess, and I got a few new hearts to feed the crystal."

She looks up to the ceiling at the translucent purple crystal, which has taken the shape of a spiked orb clinging on the ceiling, then smiles.

She raises both hands, then says "we only need a few more, and then I can track down Yukari and take down that blasted barrier. This entire planet will bathe in the glory of darkness. A new paradise for my pretty little Heartless, and then..."

She sits back down on her throne and looks up at the drawing of a giant heart she drew with blood on a crooked pillar to her left, cackles, then says "I'll will take that world and claim it as my own!"

* * *

To be continued...

Touhou-Project Shrine Maiden elements belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Kingdom Hearts elements belong to Square Enix and Disney Interactive

Other elements belong to their respective owners.

Ail, Kyo and Kali were created by Willie G.R.

APR 25 2011 (Updated MAR 5 2012)

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**First, I'd like to apologize for taking so long to post this update, but my main focus is Icicle Sukima, so it can't be helped. Also, life got in the way of finishing this sooner. Still, I'll do my best to update this more often. Second, I want to thank an anonymous reviewer for his idea to name the dark crows "Air Shadows". Sorry I took so long to thank you properly for this idea.**

**Well, you may have noticed the sudden turn this chapter took, but understand that due to the way I am writing this, the next chapter will start out light and happy again and slowly progress to... well, the future will tell. For those of you surprised I gave this sudden turn of moods, well don't think about it too much. It's part of the very small expansion I'm giving this story. Yup, a decent number of visits and hits, though not that much, and a good number of reviews, but again, not that much, so the expansions will be kept minimal, and somewhat simple. Ah well, anyway, thank you for reading all the way down here, and do pray or hope or whatever, for me to post the next chapter sooner.**

**(NOTICE: Already working on that next chapter. FINALLY!)**

* * *

This chapter's new Heartless

Boss Heartless - Stealth Sneak - Some of you may have noticed I used the Final Mix version of this Heartless. Well, I liked how it looked better than the normal one. This Heartless looks like one giant chameleon, and like a good chameleon, it changes color to adapt to its surroundings. Well, it turns invisible actually, and his attacks vary from a simple four-legged lunge, where he tries to ram you with its horn, those energy blasts that actually come from its hands when it claps, and homing eye-lasers. I varied his attacks and battle style to accommodate my fic better.

Heartless created by Willie G.R.

Note that "The Crows" have been renamed to "Air Shadows". They can also join with the Fluttering furies to add strong black oval bullets to their attack patterns.

Fluttering Furies - Heartless that have taken the shape of fairies. They can shoot bullets at great-fairy levels, though their basic attacks are kicks, tackles, using their wings as blades as they fly near an enemy and they love making their targets trip. They move around quite fast, and if they have Air Shadows around, those two Heartless will join their efforts, fully heal, and attack with speedy dives. Being great-fairy leveled, their danmaku is quite annoying, though not really that dangerous, but when joined with the Air Shadows, it can become dangerous. On their own, they will absorb water-based and ice-based spells, but when they join with Air Shadows, that ability is canceled.


	5. Chapter 5

**NOTICE:**

**Original Heartless ahead. Also, I apologize for having taken so darned long to post the fifth chapter of this fiction. It was tough getting reacquainted with the story, and the little motivation to write did not help at all. Anyway, hope you'll enjoy reading this.**

* * *

**DAY 1 - EARLY MORNING**

In front of Kyo's house, at the Human Village, the mentioned boy, Goofy, Maribel, who still has her cat ears exposed, Luna Rivers, Medicine and Keine are all gathered to discuss the plan of action regarding the mission to the Bamboo Forest of the Lost.

Keine's worried face actually worries all, even Goofy, as she sadly says "and I searched everywhere for her, but there's no sign of Mokou. I'm so worried."

"So, we'll have to do this on our own then, huh?", says the irritated Luna, rubbing the bridge of her nose to suppress her anger.

Medicine clicks her tongue, and says "stupid rabbits, and selfish aliens. Great timing on their part to disappear like they did."

Maribel sighs, flicks her right cat ear while crossing her arms over her chest, and says "we've been to that forest enough times. I'm sure we can deal with this without getting too lost."

"Whelp," begins Goofy with his usual, optimistic tone and cheery self. "As long as we're together, we should be fine. "

Kyo suppresses his desire to grin at that with a sigh, then says "alright everyone, here's what we're gonna do. Entering as a whole group could be troublesome, so we'll form teams."

"Medicine, Keine and Luna will be one team, Goofy, Maribel, and I will be the other. Though we are separate teams, let's try and keep close in case any backup is needed. And Medi!"

The blonde doll youkai looks up at the boy, while Su-San begins to flutter above her shoulder, then frowns and says "fine. I won't underestimate them, and..."

The boy and the youkai get closer to each other and said blonde whispers "and I'll do my best to keep Luna safe."

"I heard that!", says the understandably irritated silver-haired girl. "I am perfectly capable of taking good care of myself, so knock that crap off you two, or it's ramen for a WEEK!"

The boy and youkai shrink, their world becomes dark and filled with purple bolts, and they are quickly on the ground, bowing repeatedly in front of Luna, saying "**please forgive us, oh Queen of the Kitchen!**"

Goofy looks at Keine, clearly wondering if this is an everyday thing, to which she just sigh, face palms, and says "just try not to think about it too much."

The black dog just smiles and chuckles his usual "ah-hyuck", then quickly turns his attention above Kyo's house, where a black swirling vortex opens up.

A faint voice can be heard coming from within said rift, and it's getting stronger every second, and very suddenly, a blonde man falls right out of it before it closes up and leaves the sky looking as if there was nothing ever there.

"Augh, man, what the hell kind-a landin' was that?", angrily groans the man as he slowly gets to his feet, before realizing he is surrounded by six suspiciously-staring characters.

He slowly raises his hands as he finishes standing up, and says "er, whoa there. Not 'ere to cause trouble, ok."

The short-haired blonde man styles his hair styled upward, has blue eyes, a stubble on his chin, is currently chewing on a toothpick, and wears goggles around his head, a rope necklace tied to a wooden sort-of dog-tag, a white t-shirt with two buttons descending from the neck, blue baggy pants with the waistband reaching under his ribs, a thick orange waistband with thin vertical lines, grey socks, black shoes, and a second later, a silver spear falls from the sky and stabs itself on the ground to his right.

The blonde man looks at the spear, and happily says "oh, would you look at that. My baby followed me 'ere," raising the surrounding people's suspicion, thus getting the man to grin and say "so ya do understand what I'm sayin'. That takes care o' that."

Kyo lifts his blade, though just as a warning, and says "pal, we got our hands full with Heartless roaming around and popping out of dark holes very similar to the one you popped out of. Care to start explaining yourself?"

The man's eyes glow at the mention of the Heartless, and furiously exclaims "Heartless? Those things are here too? Boy, the name's Cid, and I ain't no ally to those damned Heartless! Black things are a nuisance at best! Anyway, ya' don't have to worry about me. I'm on yer side."

The group slowly lower their defenses as their tension lessens, and after a bit, Kyo offers his hand, though clearly still holding his defenses up, and says "name's Kyo, and these are Luna, my girlfriend, Keine, Maribel, Goofy, and Medicine."

After being helped up, Cid turns his attention to the little blonde and her doll, bends down, and says "well, hello there, little lady. Say, that's a mighty fine doll you got there."

The irritable doll youkai snarls, and barks "hey! Don't call me 'little lady', you old man! Call me Medicine, and her name is Su-San! Show us some respect, human!"

The blonde man gets understandably upset, grits his teeth, and angrily says "hey, I'm not an old man! Already told ya'. Name's Cid!"

Medicine stomps her right foot closer, and spits "call me by my name, and I'll consider calling you by YOURS!"

Cid presses his head against the girl, surprising everyone how he resists her poisoning, then he quickly steps back, straightens up, rubs the bridge of his nose, and more calmly says "a'righ, alright! Sorry there Medicine! Let's not get off on the wrong foot now."

The visitor starts looking around the area, then Kyo asks "sorry to be asking this so suddenly, but where did you come from, and why did you fall out of that vortex?"

The blonde man turns to the boy and says "tha hell I know! One second I'm tryin' to fight them Heartless with my friends, then next, three of us are fallin' into black holes."

"That means we may have more visitors," immediately injects Keine, sounding a little worried while speaking.

"I see," calmly says Cid while looking around some more, before picking up his spear, and causally walking past Kyo.

"Wait, where are you going, Cid?", asks Luna, concerned mostly for what that stranger might be going to do.

"Relax Luna. I'm just gonna go look for my friends," says the man while casually walking away.

"If Heartless are here, and I fell here, that means the girls'll be here too. Take care now, and, uh, keep yer' hearts strong at all times. Those things will pick on any sign' o-weakness they find."

With that, the blonde man casually waves without turning around, resting his spear across his back, and when Kyo calls "WAIT! You'll get lost!", the man disappears in the early morning mist.

* * *

**MORNING**

After having bought supplies, including some inexplicable potions and antidotes from a new shop, the two parties make their way toward the Bamboo Forest of the Lost.

"So," hesitantly begins Maribel. "Where do you think Mister Cid went? We shouldn't have let him off on his own like that."

Goofy looks back at the cat-eared blonde and says "gawrsh. Ya think, maybe he's in trouble or somethin'?"

Luna shakes her head, and to calm them both down she confidently says "didn't you see the fire in that man's eyes? He's fine, so don't you worry about him. Now focus. We have a mission of our-"

Kyo summons his sword and shield, Goofy raises his round shield, Medicine's grin turns vicious, then the boy says "ahead! Get ready!"

In front of them are a large group of two types of Heartless, currently taking the hearts of a group of shivering rabbits, making their bodies disappear as soon as their hearts join the darkness.

One type are monkey-like Heartless that have light-blue fur covering their heads and half of their torso, dark blue fur covering their lower torso, their long tails and legs, the inner part of their round ears are light purple, like their hands and feet, which have large black claws on them, golden bracelets adorn their wrists and ankles, their faces are pitch black with two round yellow eyes that seem to be surrounded by jagged teeth, and on their chest is the large black and red heart emblem.

The other type of Heartless with them have fluffy purple hair all over their oval heads, their long rabbit-like ears and their shoulders, navy-blue fur on their torso and legs, their arms and ankles are as pitch black as their faces, which also have a jagged-like teeth surrounding them, have round yellow eyes, lilac hands and feet with large black claws, their feet are at least two feet long, giving them the ability to jump as high as the bamboo shoots in the forest, and they have the red and black heart emblems emblazoned on the crown of their heads.

"Monkey and rabbits? What the hell?", exclaims Luna as she unsheathes both swords.

From the emblem on Kyo's left arm, Mima hums and says "so, you met some Powerwilds, AND yet another type of Heartless not in this book. Could you get me a picture?"

The little monsters take notice of the large party watching them, all start jumping around and swinging their claws excitedly, and just before the overconfident Medicine jumps in, a familiar girl's voice echoes all around the area as she laughs sinisterly, stopping the little blonde's advance.

"Th-that's," whispers Keine to herself, before the doll youkai lifts her fist and loudly asks "who the heck is that?"

A large chunk of the land around them, and the entrance to the Bamboo Forest, are sealed by a translucent, dark-lilac, glass-like barrier that forms a large circle around them, then Kyo shouts "don't let them gang up on you!", just as those Heartless rush towards the two parties.

Kyo, Maribel and Goofy take to the left, and the black dog immediately intercepts a rabbit with his shield, the boy cuts a monkey in half with his sword, releasing its heart, and the girl shoots a water wave spell over her partners that washes away five of those monsters and releases two of the held hearts.

She cheers and throws punches in the air, then Kyo says "FOCUS," causing her to flinch, steel herself, nod to herself, then she moves on toward the next group of monkeys and rabbits.

Meanwhile, a little to the right, Luna dances around with her swords held tight while cutting one of those rabbits to shreds, and after turning it to black dust, she rushes left to help Keine with the five Heartless that are on her.

The silver-and-red haired girl strikes a Powerwild on the stomach with the blade of her sword, saving the history teacher from a claw swipe, while Keine uses an old European short sword to weaken a rabbit, then finishes it with a laser beam from her finger.

"Crap, there's just too many of them!", screams Keine after three more Heartless take the place of the one she and Luna took down.

Kyo roars after a Powerwild jumps and strikes him with its claws repeatedly, Goofy cheers while charging that very monkey, Maribel yelps when one of those rabbits uses its head to tackle her hip, and now both Keine and Luna scream and flinch when an entire horde of those Heartless jump over to them.

A thick purple cloud envelops the Heartless, freezing them momentarily in mid-air, then Medicine roars as she sideways-flip-kicks all away from the girls, and as soon as they touch the ground, they are cut several times by a blinding white light.

No less than eight heartless explode at the same time, and all release their held hearts the moment Su-San reveals herself to be that zipping light, which is now fluttering above the blonde's shoulder.

Medicine lets out a soft chuckle to accompany her cocky grin, her eyes glow with intensity, then she lifts her right hand and roars "**CHAAAAAARGE!**"

Before long, she summersaults forward, lands in the very middle of a gathering of at least twenty of the Heartless, and soon after she releases a puff of poison all around her, just as some Powerwilds charge at her.

Su-San flies right, Medicine charges left, the little doll zips around, making herself look like a beam of light and cutting Heartless by the numbers in just seconds, while the larger girl throws two punches on a rabbit, flip-kicks a monkey, jumps and axe-kicks another monkey, drops on her back to avoid a claw-swipe from three sides, and using her own poison, she makes a spear that pierces through all the monsters' chests with ease, then she rolls backward, back to her feet, and every single monster she and Su-San hit becomes dust as their hearts are released.

Before anyone, or anything else makes another move, the doll youkai is already moving toward the cluster of Heartless up ahead, and starts jumping around and zipping so fast, she looks like a purple light that's releasing hearts by the numbers.

Goofy and Kyo bash a rabbit each, the boy releasing the heart from his monster, and quickly realize their side is now clean of monsters, seeing as most of the Heartless are focusing on defending themselves against Medicine and Su-San.

"Gawrsh, that little lady is..."

"AMAZING!", exclaims Luna, cutting Goofy off, while everyone else, including Kyo, stare awestruck as Medicine uses the glass walls to bounce around and defeat more and more Heartless.

"What's more impressive..." begins the shocked Maribel, "is how FAST she's releasing those hearts."

And just like that, the last heart is released, the glass wall shatters to bits, and from the entrance to the Forest, Medicine loudly calls "alright, it's all clear now! Hurry up! There might be more up ahead!"

The two parties can only stare at each other, unable to share words, then suddenly run after the blonde while Kyo says "damn that girl! She's too energetic! I'm NOT letting her upstage me!"

The boy stops before reaching the entrance, causing the large group to stop with him and the poison girl to groan, then says "something's up."

He looks to a path left, and another going straight, and says "the emblem seems to want to separate. Whatever the source is, it's split in two. Looks like we're going to have to split up from the start."

Everyone remains silent as they stare at the boy, and just as he is about to issue a command, Luna gets in front of him, places her hand on his chest as she stands on the tip of her feet, and gives him a kiss, helping him relax.

She pushes herself back, giggles at his surprised reaction, and says "we'll take the right."

He grabs and holds her hand with both of his, smiles, and says "we meet over here at the entrance if anything happens. Don't push yourselves too hard, dear."

With one more shared smile, the couple split, Keine nods to Kyo, and as they head to the right path, Luna commands "keep close to each other at all times! There may be more of them in there waiting to ambush us!"

The boy watches as the three girls leave, then Goofy places his gloved hand on the boy's shoulder, and says "oh, don't be sad now. They can take really good care of themselves."

The muscled boy nods, starts the walk down to the straight path, and reaches Maribel, whom seems to be eager to enter the forest, saying "come. Let's finish this task so we can go home and eat a peaceful celebration dinner!"

* * *

Shortly after having entered the forest, Kyo, Goofy and Maribel find themselves running from another horde of Powerwilds, and those fluffy bunny Heartless.

As they run, from the emblem, Mima happily says "hey, hunk, you know those rabbit things that keep chasing you? Well, thanks to your thorough description of them, Patchouli and I came with a name for them. Want to hear it?"

As she speaks, the boy jumps and flips in the air to avoid a kick on the back from a rabbit, cuts it in half with his quickly-summoned sword, releasing its heart, and now the party find themselves trapped by a Heartless semi-circle.

"Mima, we are in some serious shit right now, so save the naming for later."

The spirit giggles, then coos and says "aww, you're just sore because Luna is somewhere else. Anyway, we called them 'Fluffbounds'. Careful with those kicks of theirs. They're sharper than my own tongue."

As she says all that, Goofy rockets to the air with his shield held tight, and knocks several airborne Fluffbounds away, then Maribel follows with a barrage of pink hearts, while Kyo slashes the remaining few near them and admits "hey, that's not bad. Now excuse us while we deal with our little problem here."

He gets under the large black dog and activates his shield to use as a platform for the visitor, and when on top, Goofy lifts his arms and starts to spin, gaining momentum from the shield's spiraling wind, and getting the idea, the muscled boy tosses him toward the next group of heartless.

The spin creates a vortex that sucks the many monsters in, the cat-eared blonde smiles, shoots some hearts to spiral around the dog's shield, and a total of twenty Heartless are turned to dust in the ten second duration of that skill, and thanks to the girl's magic, their hearts were released.

As soon as Goofy stops spinning, though a bit dizzy, he regroups with Kyo and Maribel, as they all contemplate the situation they are in.

For every Heartless they have knocked out, two more have appeared in their place, and now the trio is overrun by innumerable monsters.

"Mima. We really need some help here," says the fearful boy while raising his sword and shield.

"Jus' don't give up! We have to win this, somehow!", bravely declares Goofy while raising his shield up to his snout.

"Don't worry Kyo. Mima has been teaching me new spells while in my nightmares. We'll be ok," says Maribel, wondering if she's actually going insane from the many nightmares induced by mentioned evil spirit.

They keep looking around the at the cluster of Heartless, wondering when they'll get attacked, then gasp at the sight of a good chunk of those monsters turning to dust.

"HYAAAAAA!"

Cid jumps over the monsters, hits them hard with his spear, taking a good chunk with one swing, then looks to the party and exclaims "what the _heck_ you ye three doin' there gawkin'! ? Get your asses goin' an' take a piece of the action!"

That's all the trio needed to hear to snap out of their surprise and join the fun.

They are quickly next to Cid, and already, Kyo and Maribel are taking out Heartless by the numbers and releasing hearts.

"So, **HYAH**, why are you here? Got lost?" asks the muscled boy while turning two Fluffbounds into dust and releasing their hearts.

The blonde man swings his body along with his spear, dancing it around his body and striking large numbers of monsters from a safe distance, then says "ah-yup! And seein' as I'm new to these parts, I recon I'm not finding my friends on my own!"

After bashing his shield on an unfortunate Powerwild's head, Goofy chuckles and says "welp, yer welcome ta come along with us, if ya want."

Maribel hums as red lasers fly out of her fingers, turning five Heartless to dust with ease and releasing their hearts, and says "you just have to promise not to run off on your own, no matter how grumpy you get."

The two men seem to dance around each other as they take out one Heartless after another, then, after catching a jumping Powerwild by surprise with a spear to the gut, Cid chuckles and says "well, I'm already likin' ya. No need for bullshit, heart-warming, one liners to get yer help. Just one thing though, and that is that this alliance is to that end only. Ya understand?"

A Powerwild takes Cid by surprise and knocks him to the ground after hitting him with its claws on the back, then Kyo lifts his sword, and swings, missing it after it swiftly jumps away.

Not waiting for it to strike again, the black haired boy chases after it, swings his sword from below, cuts through the monster's claws, and releases the captured heart after cutting it in half.

Goofy runs by him, jumps and crash-lands on the last Fluffbound, then calls "you okay there, Cid?"

The blonde man groans as he gets up, mutters "let down my guard there," then looks up at the three worried faces around him, and says "don't worry, I'm tougher than I look. That was just a minor inconvenience."

He stands up, thrusts his spear to Maribel's right, shocking her with a fright, and taking out five more Powerwilds, then says "like I was sayin'. When I find my friends, this alliance is over, so don't go gettin' too warmed up to me."

He quickly glares at the blonde girl, then shouts "and I'm **not** grumpy! I'm just tough!"

The girl giggles as she sticks out her tongue, places her hand behind her head, waves her other hand's fingers at the visitor, and whispers "sorry~"

From the emblem, Mima giggles and says "how sweet. You got yourselves a new ally. Looks like this incident is turning out to be fun after all."

The now party of four glance at each other in disbelief, though Goofy seems more confused than anything, then, while Kyo and Cid face palm and shake their heads, Maribel smiles and says "I hope we all get to beat the final boss together."

The humanoid dog keeps looking around in confusion, and asks "are we really goin' to the final boss already?"

* * *

**MIDDAY**

At the Hakurei Shrine, one of Wriggle's danmaku bugs strikes a Shadow on the head, which is quickly followed by a baton to the torso that turns it into dust.

The bug girl secures the baton on her belt, dusts her hands, and says "this... is just boring. Really, Cirno, I thought you said these things were tough."

"Yeah," continues Mystia in a bored tone. "So far, all these Heartless things have proven to us is how annoying they can be."

Daiyousei's wings flutter as she clenches her fists besides her reddened face, and angrily says "stop underestimating these things! You never know when they'll come from, and in large numbers too!"

Cirno lifts her black-sleeved hand in front of her friend's face, and calmly says "relax Dai-chan. They're just scared of us. With me in our group, I bet those Heartless are all just afraid to come here."

The confident fairy starts pointing at herself with her thumb, and declares "I am the strongest fairy, after all! HA-HA-HA-HA!"

All the other girls just groan and sigh at the ice fairy's declarations, but none of them have to heart to tell her differently.

"Hellooooooo!"

The call from Renko Usami, from the shrine's stairs, saves the small team of youkai from further awkwardness, and sounding genuinely happy, Daiyousei calls "ah, are you Miss Renko?"

The brown-haired girl sighs, then says to herself "not a shred of concern over the human that just came on her own without an escort."

She takes of her hat to fan herself with it, then calls back "yes, I'm Renko. Is Patchouli here-ARGH!"

She has no time to think on the pain of the impact to the back of the head she has just received.

All the brown-haired human has time for is to cover her face with her forearms before she hits the ground five feet away.

Before Renko has the chance to get up and see what hit her, Cirno and her friends ready their weapons as the ice fairy shouts "Heartless! They got dark fairies too!"

There is a large number of those dark fairies we know as Fluttering Furies hovering around the shrine's entrance, but large in numbers or not, the team of small youkai aren't afraid of them, and rush to fight the offending monsters.

Cirno takes her watermelon sword on hand, jumps in the air, and summersaults with the blade extended from her body, hitting the black fairy hard.

Mystia and Wriggle take on a single of those Furies, and it takes three claw swipes and a combo from the bug's batons to turn it to dust.

Rumia is making short work of her targets, just like Cirno, but she keeps wasting time by purposely swinging slowly.

From her left, Daiyousei angrily commands "Rumia, stop playing around and fight faster," before swinging her green staff, which has extended a bit, and now is as long as she is tall.

The girls fail to notice the clutter of black fairies ganging up on them from above, and it is clear these little monsters are going to strike for a quick kill, but that's when large earth pikes fly through all the horrible monsters, and turn them all to black dust after the barrage.

The youkai girls look up in surprise, then their gazes turn to Renko next to the shrine, who says "stop staring and fight! There's more coming!"

"GET DOWN!"

Renko quickly obeys Patchouli's command, and as soon as the massive flame spiral, which quickly takes the shape of a serpent, the youkai girls also drop, allowing the magic fire to do its job of turning the rest of those black fairies into black dust.

The girls quickly stand and rush to regroup with the spell casters, then Mystia yelps and falls when one of the Heartless trips her by cutting her ankle with its wing.

Cirno turns around, growls furiously at the sight of the night sparrow being forced to wrestle the monster away from herself, then shoots a fast barrage of ice.

The ice does nothing more than disappear into the black fairy's body and heal its prior wounds, and after Mystia screams "STOP! YOU'RE NOT HELPING!", the dumbstruck ice fairy stops her attack, and complains "they are eating the ice! Those cheaters!"

The angry night sparrow roars and thrusts her elongated purple nails right through the monster's face, painfully turning it to dust, crawls away to safety with help from Daiyousei, and after panting for a bit, she says "I prefer *pant* the boring Heartless!"

The sky is now filled with so many of those black fairies, even Patchouli, with her arsenal of magic spells on hand, is starting to have doubts, and so, with that doubt escaping through her breath, she calls "um, Mima! We need your help here!"

From the back of the shrine, the evil spirit loudly replies over the sound of explosions and lasers "I'd love to, sweetheart, but there's at least a hundred of these fluttering little monsters trying to get to Reimu. We need backup, and now!"

"There's no need," calmly says Patchouli as she opens her book, lifts a finger, and starts muttering incantations as fast as her mouth will permit.

* * *

"Protect the purple girl magician," commands Cirno before taking her watermelon sword on hand, and flying toward the dark fairies.

Rumia, Daiyousei, Mystia and Wriggle follow after her, while Renko erects a small stone shield behind Patchouli, and prepares to defend her.

Up above the shrine, those fairies start shooting little black oval bullets from their hands, and the gasping ice fairy shouts out the obvious "HOLY CRAP! THEY SHOOT DANMAKU TOO!"

Even Daiyousei wants to say something about that 'pointing out the obvious' thing, but she and all the airborne girls are having a hard time dodging the great fairy-leveled danmaku patterns, and some even have knives.

One of those knives flies past the opening on Renko's shield, and the magician is stabbed on the back before she can finish the incantation for the spell of light, and falls on her knees after yelping in pain.

The brown-haired human gasps, grabs a silver crown emblem that falls out of the magician's book, and shouts to it "Ail, Mickey, we need help!"

A few seconds later, Ail's blue gap opens up above the black fairies, and he and Mickey fall on the unsuspecting Heartless, releasing their hearts after two hits from their Keyblades, and quickly move on.

While those two deal with the monster clusters, Cirno and Daiyousei team up, and maneuver around bullets and knives until they reach the black fairies on the sides.

The ice fairy swings her sword and turns one of the Heartless to dust, then Daiyousei hits two at the same time with a sideway swing of her staff, a full-body swing, a sudden thrust, and then a simple, yet effective, downward smash, finishing the monsters off with that.

Cirno whistles in admiration, then moves toward the larger black fairy of the group along Daiyousei, who says "that's the one throwing so many knives! Let's get her together!"

Without warning, the ice fairy flies up, and immediately dives down with her sword held tight, striking the larger black fairy on the head, and pushing her to the ground.

The green-haired fairy follows after them, and lands next to the rising dust, and now finds herself fending off the Fluttering Furies that flew down after her.

After the dust clears, she sees Cirno striking the large black fairy with two diagonal swings, then said ice fairy jumps away from a wave of danmaku knives.

Daiyousei yelps and jumps to avoid the knives, takes this chance to begin a summersault descent, she holds out her staff and it begins to glow as her spin gains momentum, then she suddenly smashes it hard against the black fairies, finishing them all off, and earning herself a clap from the impressed ice fairy.

The quick celebration stops when a bunch of black knives fly above the now-ducking fairies' heads, then Cirno angrily says "that's right. I almost forgot about her."

And that's when the two fairies notice their friends are surrounding the large monster, and they all nod at the ice girl, acknowledging her while they await her advance.

The eager ice fairy quickly runs straight at the confused Heartless, followed promptly by Daiyousei, then Rumia, Mystia and Wriggle, and all, at the very same time, jump to the air, hit the monster with all their might upon their descent, and are pushed back, mostly out of their own fright, when a large pink heart flies right out of the disintegrating black body.

Still on their butts after being pushed back, the girls cheer excitedly, while Cirno shouts "HA! WE SAVED A HEART! AIL, MICKEY, WE RELEASED A HEART!"

That's when she notices the skies are clear, and that Ail, Renko, Mickey, Mima, and Patchouli, are all in front of the donation box, watching with light smiles on their faces.

The humanoid mouse sighs, then says "welp, we better get back to our own task, now that the shrine is safe."

The dense one nods, and says "good idea. Sanae and Aerith are waiting."

Mima grins mischievously, coos, then says "so, your girl, and another girl are waiting for you. How nice it must be to be such a heartbreaker."

Ail gasps with fright when he thinks of breaking Sanae's heart, then shouts "h-HEY! That's not funny! I'd never do something so vile!"

"Oh, he obviously missed the actual joke," says Renko, while laughing along everyone, and now both Ail and Cirno have a look of great confusion, and this is making them look like father and daughter, and, of course, everybody, even Mickey, laugh harder.

* * *

Back at the Bamboo Forest, things have settled down, and Heartless attacks have diminished, but even so, the party of four is still ready for anything.

During this time of peace, a thought crosses Kyo's mind, glances over at Goofy, and asks "hey, I've been meaning to ask you. Why do you use a shield to fight? Wouldn't a sword be more effective in battle?"

"Ah-hyuck," chuckles the humanoid dog, then says "oh, true that a sword would be more effective in a fight, but I am a royal guard, not a royal killer."

"My job is to protect others, and shields are made to protect, so it is only natural I use a shield, even when on the attack."

Kyo remains staring at the large dog while at a loss for word, so Goofy continues "besides, I don't like swords. Swords are dangerous. You could hurt someone you love, like a friend, and I don' know about you, but that's enough for me to not wan'em, ever."

The boy looks down to the ground while in thought, and softly says "I see. You know, you have a valid point there."

"Hate to break the warm little chat, but there's somethin' there that's callin' for some attention."

Cid's interruption turns the party's focus toward a black flame with a purple center that sits in the very middle of a small clearing, and Kyo quickly takes notice of his silver heart emblem reacting to the flame's presence, and says "this is it."

"What? This is the source?" excitedly asks Maribel, unable to hide her overexcitement due to her voice's tone, and her cute cat ears standing on their ends.

The black-haired boy starts walking toward the flame, and as though in a trance, he says "yeah, this is definitely it. How odd," while at the same time, Cid shouts "you muscle-head, don't go gettin' too close to that thing!"

Ignoring the blonde man, Kyo gets closer to the flame, and when at three feet away of it, it expels a strong, cold wind that pushes that boy back with ease.

"Idiot! Told you to not to get close!"

Cid's scolding goes unnoticed due to the amazing sight before them that even the blonde man has no choice but to gawk at in awe.

The simple flame has taken the shape of a large bird that flaps its wings threateningly, then that chuckling voice from before echoes around the party, and the bird takes flight while they are looking around in confusion.

"It's going after Luna and the others!", shouts Kyo before springing on to his feet and taking off running after that bird.

"WAIT! KYO, IT COULD BE A TRAAAAP!" shouts Goofy in hopes that his friend will slow down, while Cid and Maribel edge the large dog to run faster.

The black-flames bird burns new paths through the bamboo shoots, making the thick maze even more confusing than it is, though the group is too focused on it to take notice of the new paths taken, and that's when Kyo suddenly stops.

He and Maribel look up with a face full of shock and fright, while Goofy and Cid prepare themselves for battle, then the blonde man asks "who the heck is that girl?"

Kyo clenches his teeth, growls after hearing Luna scream after an explosion, and grumbles "that's Mokou Fujiwara."

"An immortal, and a good friend," adds Maribel with a bit of fright in her voice.

"**WHAT?**"

The double shout from the two outsiders was expected, but after hearing Luna scream again, the muscle-head roars as he charges blindly into battle.

At the other side of the bamboo, Keine looks up to the sky with teary eyes, and shouts "why, Mokou? Why are you doing this?"

Medicine is busy taking care of the Powerwilds and Fluffbounds the immortal keeps summoning, Luna is on her knees in front of Keine, a little singed on the face, while the history teacher keeps trying to reach her immortal friend.

Mokou Fujiwara has long light-violet hair that reaches down to her ankles, red eyes that flicker to purple and back, wears a dark brown shirt that seems to have been engulfed in flames before, long red pants with talismans set all over that are held by two shoulder straps, and a pair of dark brown boots that have a burned silver fire emblem at the tip of each.

She is currently flying high above the bamboo, looking down at the girls with a smile that becomes sinister as she says "what do you mean 'why'? Because I want that shrine maiden dead, so that I may take back my status as a noblewoman, and take control of Gensokyo! What other reasons should I have, you fool! ?"

At that very moment, her black flame rushes to her, enters through her back, merging with her and making her eyes turn dark purple, then she smiles and says "ah, it appears the others have arrive a little earlier than expected. No matter. That means I'll get to have twice the fun."

Keine kicks off the ground to try and reach her friend, crying as she shouts "Mokou, please, stop, you're not evil! You don't even care about nobility! You told me so!"

The darkened girl shoots a thin beam of flames at the history teacher and hits her on the chest, knocking her back to the ground, then shoots a flame toward Kyo's direction, and casually says "eh. That was then, this is now. Live in the moment, you cow."

The boy yelps when he almost crashes head-first against Mokou's flames, and while he and his party stop, the immortal grins as she begins her descent toward Keine, and says "and now, Miss Keine, it's time to awaken you to the darkness!"

* * *

Back at the warzone that is the Hakurei Shrine, the girls struggle on their own against a non-stop barrage of Air Shadows and Fluttering Furies.

Patchouli uses mineral spells to defeat three pairs of those Heartless that joined forces as they threatened to dive-bomb her, then grabs the silver emblem from her pocket, and desperately calls "Kyo! Goofy! We need help here! There's too many!"

All she gets as her reply is the boy groaning and screaming after several explosions, then she groans in frustration and shouts "no choice! AIL! MICKEY! WE NEED HELP!"

At that very moment, the magician finds herself straining her muscles as she is forced to jump and roll away from a barrage of danmaku from another one of those joined monsters, and shouts "Mima, the Fluttering Furies and crow things' danmaku is strong! Don't let it touch you!"

The evil spirit is currently helping Mystia turns another bunch of Furies into dust, and calls back "call them Air Shadows. Sounds cooler!"

She swings her crescent moon staff to hit one of the mentioned crows, and is surprised when that monster's beak easily deflects the attack and forces the weapon out of her hands.

She looks toward the gates, where Cirno is using an ice shield to protect Rumia and Daiyousei, and shouts "ice fairy, those birds' beaks break through defenses easily!"

Cirno raises an eyebrow after noticing the spirit calling for her, but being unable to hear Mima's words, and an Air Shadow shows what it is capable of through its own actions, breaking through her shield and tackling her head, leaving her on the floor, dazed out of her senses.

Renko joins Rumia and Daiyousei in backing the dazed fairy up, prepares a few magic-made earth spikes, then is shot from the back with black bullets that drain her energy and knock her on the floor.

"Miss Renko! Cirno-chan, get up! They hit Miss Renko!", shouts Daiyousei in her desperate attempt to remain brave, but now that all the flying monsters around them have merged, that bravery slips right out of her with a whimper.

She covers her face, awaiting the inevitable doom that's to befall her, yet all she hears is the sound of Heartless exploding while their hearts are being released.

She looks up to marvel excitedly as Ail, whom has Mickey on his back, Sanae, and a new girl dressed in pink, all work together to make short work of the somewhat stronger enemies.

The new girl has green eyes, long brown hair she styles into a braid on her back and coils to the side of her face, and wears a pink dress with magenta linings and buttons that go down her front, the last two remaining lose, a pair of brown boots, and adorns herself with metal coils around her wrists, a lilac belt around her waist with a black string tied into a bow by the hip, a black string tied around her neck, and has a red bow tying her braid.

The new girl raises her hand, green sparks cover Cirno, Rumia, Renko and Daiyousei, and now all feel stronger than they did in the morning.

Impressed, Cirno gets up as she exclaims "WHOOOAAAAHHH! I feel I can take on ALL of these things on my own!"

The girl, whom has a very sweet voice, calmly says "please don't! There are too many for you to take on by yourself!"

Patchouli gets closer to the girl, and says "so, you are Aerith? You have to teach me that spell."

Aerith giggles after smacking an Air Shadow on the face with the tip of her staff, touches the purple magician's shoulder, those green sparks fill the girl up, and suddenly, the girl's eyes become filled with magic and life, she summons a Royal Flare without prior incantations, and screams "get down!", to which everyone complies, then screams "**MUUUKYUUUUUUNNNNN~**", while the miniature sun expands.

Back at the Bamboo Forest, the hooded figure hurriedly finishes beating some Powerwilds at the distance, while Maribel concentrates on healing Keine, Luna and Goofy.

The black-clad Keyblade wielder notices those Heartless are focusing on the held Keyblade, and decides to run away while those monsters give chase, lessening the group's heavy load.

Kyo, Cid and Medicine are currently facing off Mokou on the ground, at a black clearing the immortal has made with her fire, and just stand in place, all waiting to see who makes the first move.

The blonde girl takes a step forward, grins wider, then sinisterly says "I always wanted to try out my strength against you, Mokou."

The immortal ignites her fists with hot flames as she grins, and says "bring it on, pipsqueak. I'll take you all out, **and** take Keine's heart!"

With that said, she throws her flaming punches forward, sending two massive fireballs along, and Medicine quickly engulfs the area in a thick blanket of poison, forcing Kyo and Cid away from her.

"WATCH IT MEDI!" shouts the black haired boy.

"Whoa there little lady! Give us a warnin'!" shouts the blonde man.

The very second those fireballs touch the blonde's poison, the entire mist ignites in a blinding mountain of intense flames that make the shape of a skull, and though the immortal snickers, her grin becomes a quick frown.

The flaming poison rushes forward, then Medicine and Su-San jump out of the curtain of fire and lunge straight at the immortal, readying a poisonous punch.

Mokou intercepts the attack with her own fire punch, which connects with the attacking blonde's and explodes with force, though not enough to push the girls away from each other.

Medicine kicks the fire girl, who blocks with her knee and tries to claw the doll youkai's face, but quickly finds herself igniting another poison cloud with her fire, before hopping back.

She throws a kick engulfed entirely in flames and intercepts Su-San's rush, though leaves her side open for Medicine to finally connect a punch on her ribs, and sends her flying away.

Mokou manages to sink her hand in to ground below her, stops her forced advance through the air, and uses the momentum of her rebound and ignites herself in fire to attempt and tackle the little blonde girl.

Kyo intercepts her with his wind shield, and sends her flying up, and as she screams and falls off course, Cid awaits for her with his spear at the ready, locks it under her armpit, swings her around once, then smashes her face on the ground.

The party regroups again, knowing the fight is not over, and true enough, when Mokou recovers, her flames cause an explosion of pebbles and dirt that catches the entire party off guard, and knocks them on their seats.

Before they can recover, she launches herself to the air, shoots three fireballs, one for each of their targets, then lunches straight to Kyo.

Cid and Medicine are blown away by the strong fireballs, while Kyo himself manages to push the fireball away with his wind shield, but now finds himself pinned down by the immortal, who is now trying to drill her fist through his shield.

She grins as she sinisterly says "I'll cut short from killing you, just so you may watch as I take you woman's heart before your very eyes," then ignites her fist with black flames.

This new attack is breaking through the boy's shield, but to his luck, Mokou screams out loud and flinches, allowing him to kick her off.

Maribel is punishing the immortal's back with a barrage of heart bullets, but before said girl can turn around to attack, Luna dives from above with her swords held tight, strikes Mokou on the face, then falls through to the ground, where she rolls and looks back to exclaim "what the heck?"

Instead of Mokou, floating three feet above the ground, as though lying on a stiff bed, is a ghostly purple image of the immortal, sleeping soundly with her hands linked over her chest.

It is at this moment that the hesitant Keine gets closer to look upon her friend, while Maribel asks "wait, what just happened? It is because she's immortal? Did we really just... kill her?"

The history teacher lets out a very silent and quick sob as she gets closer to the ghostly body of her friend, sighs, then says "Kyo, there's something in her stomach."

The mentioned boy is already standing behind Keine, sighs, and sadly says "I know. The emblem is going crazy. Don't worry though, I'm sure that, after we remove this, she'll be back to her old self.

Goofy watches from a distance with Cid, gnaws on his gloved hand, and asks "gawrsh. Why am I gettin' a bad feelin' about this?"

The blonde man rests his spear behind his back while looking at Medicine as she recovers and stands, and says "I don' know. Maybe because it all seems too simple."

* * *

**AFTERNOON**

Kyo follows his instincts as he gets closer to Mokou in order to remove whatever is resonating with the heart emblem on his shoulder's sleeve.

Only Keine and himself are close enough to the ghostly image, and as the boy lifts his arm and the emblem sends a ball of light through him, the ghostly immortal smiles, opens her eyes, and with an echoed voice, says "boo. Gotcha!"

The ghost disappears, and before anyone realizes what happened, the real Mokou bursts out of the ground, and unleashes a raging ball of fire from her own body.

Everyone screams as the fire engulfs the entire area, and as sudden as it started, it stops, and if it wasn't for Kyo's wind shield, he and Keine would be lumps of coal on the newly burned clearing in the forest.

Medicine flies through the air and dives straight at the immortal, clenching a poisonous fist while shouting "you damned idiot!"

Her punch in intercepted by a flaming hand that fizzles a bit when coming in contact with the gas, yet Mokou remains smiling, while the little blonde throws another kick, and shouts "you're gonna burn everything down!"

The grinning light-lilac haired girl grabs the poisonous doll youkai by the arm, easily lifts her up to her face, and sinisterly says "that's the plan, kid."

Medicine has a split second to cover her front with a mist of poison that explodes against Mokou's sudden fireball, and sends both flying away from each other.

Fujiwara, however, uses this as a chance to attack Luna and Cid, and with a swift move from her legs and hips, she smashes a foot on both defenseless characters before they even knew what hit them.

Soon after, she slides to a stop behind her victims, then quickly rushes straight to Keine and Maribel, and smiles at their 'preparedness'.

She lunges straight at the girls, grinning particularly vilely at the history teacher, tackles Maribel, breaking through her magical shield, grabs her old friend by the shoulders, and stares.

"Mokou! Mokou, Please, stop this! We just want to help you!", pleas the desperate girl.

The immortal smiles sinisterly, softly says "sorry, but she can't hear you right now, try again some other time," then winds her head back while the silver-and-blue haired girl gasps in horror.

The headbutt connects solidly, leaving Keine in a terrible daze, then Mokou aims to take that heart with haste, but Goofy rushes forth with his shield held tight while roaring, and forces the girl away from her victim.

The darkened girl growls as the humanoid dog takes her target away, but quickly turns her attention back to Medicine and Kyo, who stand bravely before her, the boy holding his sword and shield tight, while the doll youkai has her little companion and herself readied with more poison.

The immortal girl begins to hover three feet above the ground, covering herself with fire as she threatens the two locals, then says "My Lady's plans will not be held back by a couple of roaches like you! You will never free Reimu!"

That's all the boy needs to hear to charge straight into the fire with his shield and sword raised, and is followed promptly by the little blonde, who's looking for some revenge after getting hit.

Kyo swings his sword at Mokou's face, Medicine lunches herself head-first at the girl's stomach, and all the immortal can do is brace for impact.

She is sent flying back against the few remaining bamboo shoots in the area, Medicine follows with a punch to the face, and a rush attack from Su-San, then the immortal girl pushes the little attackers away with a quick pulse of fire.

The immortal recovers quickly and begins to hover forward, but is quickly intercepted by Goofy, who tackles her with a shield to the chest, and pushes her back toward Kyo, who prepares his sword like a baseball bat.

The black dog stops his charge after a final push, and Mokou is forcefully intercepted by a hot sword to the back, though thankfully to her, the boy uses the broad side of the blade to strike her.

She is sent to the air by force, where she is met with Maribel's hearts, and Keine's lasers, the latter severely weakened, and roars with fury and pain as her skin is burned by the danmaku.

Luna and Cid rush to the girls to help them beat the immortal, but that's when Mokou's roar becomes a force of energy that pushes everyone flat on the ground, and before long, even Medicine is unable to move.

"Kuh! No! We had her!", cries out Kyo in frustration.

Luna manages to crawl toward the boy, grabs his hand, and shouts "we have to get out of here, before she decides to kill us!"

"**TOO LATE!**"

Mokou's voice echoes all over the Bamboo Forest, her eyes seem to be ignited with her own fire, what visible parts of her skin is red and stressed from the strain of power she's using, and dark blood starts dripping from the corner of her mouth.

"**You are all going to pay dearly for laying your filthy hands on me!**"

Right after her threat, the energy pressure lessens enough for the large party to stand, but before they can, they feel a burning force gather below them.

They are all lifted to the air by what looks like a set of beams of orange fire that seems to make a giant bird's claw, all are squeezed together when that claw tightens itself, then the immortal sinisterly says "still, to kill you would be a waste. Instead, I'll just mess you up enough to give me time to turn you _all _into Heartless!"

"WAIT A MINUTE-"

Cid's complaints fall on deaf ears as they are all wound up, then thrown away toward a thick and dangerous concentration of bamboo shoots with very sharp tips on the top.

Everyone cries out, frightened by the thought of the pain they are about to feel, while the immortal girl smiles sinisterly as she awaits for the satisfying sound of impaling bodies.

Her smile quickly turns to a frown when, instead, all the screaming stops, but there is no sound of ripping flesh, and what's worst, her new playmates have disappeared.

Moments later, Kyo can hear Goofy and Maribel groaning as they get up, and the girl complaining "ugh, why am I still hurting if I'm dead?"

The boy suddenly opens his eyes, looks around at his friends groaning on the ground, then excitedly says "guys, guys, we're not dead! We're alive! And we're in..."

And that's when he sees the mansion of Eientei standing proudly before their sprawled bodies, and so he slowly gets up on his feet, and finishes "we're at Eientei, you guys."

"Great, now she's going to wonder what happened to you," says the familiar, irritated voice of Eirin Yagokoro, who stands to the party's right, as she irritably sighs and continues "well, whatever. As long as she doesn't come over here, we should be alright."

Eirin has long silver hair made into a braid behind her back, dark grey eyes, and wears a blue and red nurse's cap with a golden cross on its center, a red and blue vest under a white shirt with puffy sleeves, a blue and red skirt that reaches down to her ankles, a pair of black slippers, and her dress and cap have constellations on them.

She rubs the bridge of her nose as she sighs again, and now has Keine in front of her, ready to give the explanation of their sudden appearance.

* * *

After the explanations, Eirin rubs her chin while in deep thought, and says to herself "so that's why this incident remains unresolved. And here I thought Mokou has only snapped on her own accord. It was the Heartless after all."

Reisen Udongein Inaba, a moon rabbit with long light-purple hair, red eyes, rumpled rabbit ears that seem to have buttons on the base, whom wears a white button shirt, a red tie, a short blue skirt, and black shoes, walks out of the mansion, and calls "Master, the relaxant isn't working on her anymore. What should I do?"

There is a bit of worry and urgency in the girl's eyes, so the Lunarian pharmacist calmly says "let me handle her. Please treat our guests' wounds. They're going to need the extra health."

"Roger," eagerly replies the girl before reaching inside for her first aid kit.

Cid wants to protest, wondering, like the rest, what that woman meant by what she said, but he's already on the care of the cute bunny girl, and noticing this, he mellows down and smoothly says "well, good afternoon young lady. Please, be gentle with me."

Being the expert that she is, Reisen finishes with his wounds, chuckles nervously, then quickly rushes over to Luna, leaving the blonde man amazed of her speed and skill.

She leans closer to the silver haired girl with the red highlights, and whispers "who is that weirdo?", while the blonde man celebrates the Moon rabbit nurse.

Before Reisen is done with Luna, Kyo coldly asks "what did Eirin mean? Are you going to kick us out as soon as you're done treating us?"

"Not exactly," says a child-like, yet wise-sounding voice from the direction of the clinic.

Everyone looks to Tewi Inaba, who has short black hair that reaches her shoulders, red eyes, wears a simple pink dress, and has a red necklace with a carrot dangling near her heart.

She walks casually toward the large group, and says "you see, since that insane immortal is looking for you, we need you out of here to keep the princess safe. However, we are not coldhearted. We have a plan for you."

With his arm bandaged and already feeling better, Goofy chuckles, and asks "a plan? You mean to say you wan' us to sneak around the back of that there immortal lady and get 'er?"

Even Reisen has to raise an eyebrow in surprise after hearing such an allegation, then Eirin, who is now next to the Earth rabbit, coldly says "your intuition is quite amazing, _visitor_. And it's just like you say. We have the means to do this without you being detected, so you'll be alright for a while."

Maribel is the only one that takes notice of Eirin's words, and says "um, right, Miss Eirin, Miss Reisen, Miss Tewi, these are Mister Goofy and Mister Cid."

She points at the dog humanoid and says "he fell from a ship he was using to travel with his friends...

Meanwhile, somewhere in heaven, Tenshi and some angels are flying for dear life while the red, orange, and yellow ship chases after them above the city of Bahva-Agra.

Back at Eientei, Maribel points at the blonde man, and says "he fell out of the sky from this weird vortex thingie. He's good though."

The man scratches the back of his head to hide his discomfort, and says "don't mind me. Just lookin' for some friends and got tangled up in this mess."

The Lunarian bows her head politely, then says "a pleasure, but we're running out of time. Mokou is looking for you, and if she finds us here, the princess will be in danger."

"It's not like she can die," casually comments Luna, before Maribel politely asks "and where _is_ Miss Kaguya?"

The silver-haired woman stares at Kyo's girl and coldly says "that doesn't mean I'll allow harm to come to her," then gestures her hands toward the mansion, and says "and she's very occupied at the time."

And in the center of the foyer of the mansion is Kaguya Houraisan, sitting with her legs crossed under her long burgundy skirt with the yellow bamboo, flowers and hearts designs on it.

She has very long, silky looking black hair, her dark brown eyes remain hidden as she focuses, and her pink shirt has long sleeves, and is adorned by several white ribbons, and she currently has Reisen's golden crescent moon pin on the collar.

Kyo observes the way the Moon Princess floats two feed over the floor, and says "so, you're hiding Eientei from Mokou with Kaguya's ability, even though Reimu asked you to never do that again."

"Reimu is not here," coldly barks Eirin, before more calmly saying "and the bamboo pikes you saw are a little device of mine. But that's not important. You three..."

She points at Kyo, Medicine and Goofy, and says "my scouts tell me you handled that girl well, so you are to take the path that will lead you directly underneath her. Move fast, though. She's bound to move."

Medicine raises an eyebrow, and says "a path, huh. Where is it? I only see the exit of this boring place."

Her answer comes when Tewi jumps over her, lands in front of the left side of the mansion's outer walls, and opens up a secret door while proudly saying "this path! A tunnel made by myself. That girl will never even know you're coming."

Eirin, then, points at Keine, Cid, Maribel and Luna, and says "and you'll be taking the other path that should lead you away from the battle, so that you may take her by surprise. Mokou may be well versed in battle, but she's narrow when she picks her target."

Tewi jumps high in the air, lands at the other side of the outer walls, opens another trap door, and says "better get moving. The trek's a little long, and flying or running is impossible inside."

The large group look around at each other, hesitant about splitting up, especially knowing what awaits them out there.

That's when, from the emblem, Mima says "hunk, do as she says. Please, we need you to work fast. The attacks here have been relentless, and I swear, these Heartless are starting to get stronger!"

"What's wrong! ? Mima, what the hell happened?", hurriedly asks the black haired boy.

Patchouli is heard taking over, and quickly says "we've been attacked several times, and each time the Heartless have attacked more furiously. They are after Reimu's heart. Please hurry up out there and return here as soon as possible. Marisa is currently engaged with her target as we speak, so she can't come."

Mima is once again heard taking over, and says "look, the cute fairy and her adorable little friends are doing a great job, but we need some extra muscle. Ail and Mickey have done what they can, but we can't rely on them all the time. And not to alarm you, but they aren't answering. I hope they're just busy."

Kyo nods, looks to his team, signals them to rush over to the trap door, and calls "alright, we got ourselves a time limit! Let's hurry this up and save two places at once!"

With that said, Goofy and Medicine chase after the boy, while Luna and her team rush to the other trap door, with Cid lagging behind them and complaining "damned Heartless cause nothin' but trouble, I say!"

Eirin just watches them go, and after they are all gone, she sighs and says "Udonge, prepare the guest rooms. Something feels... off."

Meanwhile, inside the dark tunnel, the path has narrowed down to the point where even Medicine has to crawl to move.

The mentioned girl groans impatiently, and says "couldn't that rabbit have made these paths wider? We've been in here for an hour, all thanks to this stupid crawling!"

Kyo stops his advance, stopping Goofy and Medicine as well, taps on a trap door twice, and coldly says "we're here, you exaggerate whiner. Are you guys ready?"

He can hear them nodding, especially when Goofy hits his head on the low ceiling, and with a grin on his face, he says "alright, let's go!"

* * *

**AFTERNOON**

Mokou flies all over and around the Bamboo Forest, looking down from above the shoots and roaring impatiently after failing to find her new toys.

"Where the hell are they? Keine! I want Keine's heart! I NEED IT!"

She roars to the sky, shooting a beam of fire to the air to vent her rage, then suddenly stops, lowers her head, and grins.

Kyo flies from the ground, straight toward the immortal with his shield held tight and at twice its normal size, and Mokou intercepts him with a sudden back-kick that almost pushes him away.

He grunts as he pushes back against her kick, while the girl calmly says "and here I was thinking that you left. Glad to see I can still play with you."

The boy smiles back, the wind around his shield begins to move faster every second, then he chuckles and says "oh yes, let's play. Why don't you come down first, though? There are two very special people that want to play with you too."

With that, he jerks his shield, forcing the flaming girl to spin in place uncontrollably, then he grabs his shield from the lower edges, summersaults for momentum, and smashes the dizzy girl on the head, forcing her down to the ground.

Before she crashes, Goofy rockets up to her with his shield above his head, saying "sorry ma'am," and smashes her back against his shield, and throws her away toward a bamboo shoots wall.

Before she hits the expected wall, Medicine jumps to intercept her with a cloud of poison, and after the slightly paralyzed girl falls to the ground, the blonde sends Su-San to rush her several times.

As Mokou slowly recovers from the poisoning and the beating, the party of three regroups, then Kyo declares "I'm taking that thing out of your stomach, Mokou. We're freeing Reimu and you, I don't care if you don't want to saved."

The immortal girl struggles with herself as she stands, chuckles, causing her entire body to convulse, a purple aura surrounds her body, and sounding steeled, she says "nobody can save that maiden; nobody can save me. I am lost to the darkness, and so will she be, soon. Kyo, Medi, Goofy dog, hit me as hard as you can, harder if you have to, but you will fail. At least keep me away from Keine..."

"The nice Lady Keine?", asks Goofy, while Kyo and Medicine share a glance with a raised eyebrow.

The confused boy glowers at the immortal, then asks "what the hell are you even talking about? What about Keine? What's the deal with her?"

Mokou grips her head hard, falls on her knees as she bends her torso, as though having a terrible headache and stomach ache at the same time, and through roars, she says "Keine... important! The full moon! Rewrite the his..."

The immortal girl suddenly bends backward and lifts her arms as she screams to the sky, her purple ghost self splits from her body, mimicking the same movements as the main body, and now both bend back forward and breathe hard against the ground.

After several breaths, Kyo demands "Mokou! Speak! What are you talking about! What did you mean 'rewrite his'? His what? Who?"

The immortal starts to chuckle along with her ghostly half, slowly lifts her head, and says "did you... really think... your stupid little split-up plan would WORK AGAINST ME?"

Her purple ghost lifts her right hand, aims it at Luna's party over at the distant left, and two massive Heartless; a Powerwild and a Fluffbound; threaten to crush the girl and her party under their clawed feet.

Seeing those massive monsters threaten his woman, Kyo loses his head and tries to rush to her aid, screaming "LUNA! I'm coming for you, just hold-"

He doesn't get far before the entire area is surrounded by that round dark glass-like barrier, and as he turns around to face the two Mokous, the wind around his shield intensifies, and in a dark undertone, he demands "open the damned path, Mokou. I swear, if something happens to Luna, I'll make you pay."

The real immortal girl's irises are now constantly shrinking and growing inside the insane-looking eyes of hers, and she laughs a bit before saying "that's it. THAT IS IT! Shoot your best at me! Hit me with... **ALL** you've got!"

Kyo regroups with his party with a quick jump, all raise their defenses, and now everyone in that barrier is ready to begin the fight.

* * *

Kyo, Goofy and Medicine run straight to the real Mokou, who seems to be fighting with herself just to keep on her feet, as if lost in her own mind.

They are intercepted by the black flames of the ghostly Mokou, who smiles and confidently says "like hell you're touching her. Come on, fight with me! I'm more fun!"

Before either of them can move, the ghostly doppelganger becomes a large blade of black and purple fire that rushes straight at the party, and nocks them back hard.

Medicine gets off her stomach and shakes her head, roars furiously, then rushes blindly toward the fake immortal.

Before that ghost can react, she's being run through by Su-San, just before the blonde youkai girl smashes a poison-covered fist against the dark target's cheek, then shouts "Confusion, Into Delirium!"

The immediate area around her and the ghostly being is engulfed in a nerve gas that causes severe stress, but before the ghostly girl can contemplate that, she is bombarded by large green danmaku orbs and smaller yellow ones.

Even Kyo and Goofy have to drop low to the ground to avoid getting caught by the bullets, and even though Medicine notices, she continues to bombard both Mokous with her attack.

The spell cancels out, Kyo and Goofy quickly get on their feet, and now Medicine is flying backward.

From the looks of things, Mokou has recovered from her daze, and has just kicked the doll youkai away.

The boy and the dog look at each other, nod, then Goofy shouts "COME ON!", as he charges toward the ghostly immortal, while Kyo goes to the real immortal girl.

She shoots a fireball at his shield, he bounces it back with a push, then rushes toward her, taking the flaming distraction to his advantage to try and land a shield-bash on her face.

She falls on her butt, roars, and furiously says "I'm getting real sick of you all!", then flies up and lands a strong punch on the boy's shield, pushing him back, even though he manages to hold his ground.

Before he can recover, the fire girl ducks and sweeps her foot across his, knocking him to the ground.

She moves in for a killing blow, but Kyo summons a smaller wind shield to his left hand and throws it at her face.

Mokou only has a moment to flick that shield away with a flame-covered arm, then as she prepares to counter, her ghost half crashes against her from the left, knocking both to the ground.

"Come on, Kyo! We got em' on the run," declares the humanoid dog, making the boy smile and get up just as Medicine regroups with them.

They watch as the two Mokous are forcefully merged again, then the poison girl points and says "this is the end! Let's finish her off while we can!"

All three rush to the immortal, the boy tries a side-swing with his shield, but his target rolls backward, so the black dog speeds up and rushes her with his shield, managing to strike her on the ribs, then the blonde girl jumps to the side to intercept their target with palms readied with more paralyzing poison.

Mokou uses the momentum of the push from Goofy, kicks Medicine on the forehead, grabs the humanoid's shield and drops on her back on the ground, then kicks his stomach and sends him flying over herself toward the youkai girl, whom he crushes with his body.

"Kyooooo! We need help!"

Mokou looks to where the other party is having their fight, smiles, then says "heh, by the looks of things, it seems like Keine's heart will soon be ours, along with those others."

Kyo comes rushing in with fire sword on hand and swings with all his might, barely missing the immortal girl, who only had enough time to move sideways before getting smacked on the face with the wind shield.

The boy swings his sword again, but the girl catches it with her bare, flaming hands, strikes him across the face with the back of her forearm, then she is kicked on the side by the angry Medicine.

Goofy charges the girl again, catching her off guard from behind, Kyo swings his sword and strikes her across the chest, then Medicine sends Su-San for another rush.

Mokou moans as she stumbles forward, fights her dizziness as she stumbles right, moans as she holds her head, falls on her knees while holding her head, then whispers "dammit, I got careless," and falls facedown to the ground.

The party stares at the immortal as her body twitches slightly on the ground, then the blonde doll says "alright, we did it! Now take that damned thing out of her before-"

"HEEEEEELP!"

All three turn their heads as the barrier shatters to pieces all around them, then Kyo and Medicine both yelp "LUNA!", then rush to help her.

Goofy gasps, looks at Mokou's unconscious body, then at his friends, then runs after them, calling "WAIT A MINUTE! WHAT ABOUT THE IMMORTAL GIRL?"

* * *

On the other side of the field, Luna, Cid and Keine find themselves cornered by the giant Powerwild, while Maribel is flying around the giant Fluffbound and showers it with heart bullets and water spells, all while making sure to keep away from the range of its double-kicks.

The blonde tries to rush over to the others' aid, but the giant rabbit Heartless jumps and gets in her way, then she calls "I can't get to you! ARGH! Someone do something!"

Luna snarls at the giant monkey Heartless, watches as it prepares to lunge forward, readies her swords, and right after the monster jumps, swinging its massive claws at impressive speeds, she roars while swinging her blades with all her might, and blocks the giant monkey, making it fall on its face after flinching.

"GOOD ONE, LUNA!", shouts Cid just as he moves closer to the monster's face and begins to swing his spear against it with deadly accuracy.

Keine focuses her beams on the palm of her hand, then shoots two thick red beams at its torso, while Luna herself combines several sword swings and kicks on the other side of its head.

The Powerwild suddenly pushes itself off the ground, lands on its feet a good eight feet away from the party, then swings its right arm as if venting his anger and frustration.

Cid suddenly screams, and when Luna and Keine look back, they realize he is being sucked by the same vortex that brought him over to Gensokyo.

The girls call for him, quickly rush to him and grab on to his spear, then both pull with all their might, but even with Keine's youkai strength, he's slipping.

"No! Hold on Cid! We got you!", grunts the history teacher.

Luna grunts and pulls, notices the Powerwild is coming for them, and desperately shouts "HEEEEEEELP!"

That's when Cid snarls and says "lemme go! That thing'll kill ya if you don't!"

"No! What about your friends?" snaps the girl. "How do you plan on finding them if you're not here?"

The blonde man glowers at the girls, then says "last chance to let me go, ladies! If you don't that thing'll tear ya."

The girls ignore his words, the Powerwild is moving too fast for them to save him in time, so he lifts his right hand and does a quick chop on both their fingers, making them flinch and forcing them to let him go.

The world slows down as he falls down into the swirling darkness, shouting "don' you worry about me! Just keep fightin'!"

The vortex closes up, and both Luna and Keine are left hyperventilating, unable to believe what's going on, but their confusion has to be put on hold, for they have a giant charging Heartless coming at them.

Keine looks hurt and unwilling to fight, while Luna looks about ready to tear that monster's limbs from their sockets with her hands alone, and so rushes forth, roaring as she grabs her swords from their sheath and prepares to kill.

She takes flight to meet with its face, winds her right arm back, and strikes it in the eye the very same moment when Kyo lands his sword on its back.

Meanwhile, the history teacher remains where she is, thinking "_this... this is different. Mokou; she's not herself. These Heartless are more dangerous than I thought. They... SHE is after my heart. This is so frightening. And Cid... what just happened? What is happening? Someone..._"

She holds her head and whimpers while breathing through her teeth, while thinking "_someone help! Someone do something! Reimu! Someone get Reimu! She can save everyone! SHE ALWAYS DOES!_"

Without her notice, she is now being embraced from behind by the ghostly image of the purple Mokou, who sweetly and sinisterly says "you are afraid. Don't be, Keine. The darkness is more wonderful than you think."

"B-but it's so cold. I don't like that."

"You'll get used to it. I promise you will. I'll be there with you the whole time too. Think about it. You won't feel the pains of love, the sting of the sun, or the fake warmth from those who claim to be your friends."

A cold chill crawls down the teacher's spine, and with her eyes closed, unable to open them, with in a frightful tone, she says "no. P-please, Mokou, let me go. You're scaring me."

The ghostly Mokou has her hands stuck inside Keine's chest, and with that soft, sweet, and sinister voice, she says "I'm sorry, but it's too late. Your heart now belongs to me."

"**NOOOOOO! **Get away from her!"

Maribel screams at the top of her lungs, getting the attention of everyone to the teacher and the Heartless ghost, and how its slowly pulling the light out of the woman's heart.

She forgets her Fluffbound and rushes to aid the history teacher, but that Heartless quickly jumps in her way, so she desperately pulls a spell card from underneath her hat, and declares "Dawn Sign, Break Through Twilight!"

The girl's body gets engulfed in a bright golden aura that increases her physical capabilities, and without giving it much thought, she plunges right through the Heartless' chest, turning it into dust and releasing its heart by force.

But she doesn't care. Her focus is on reaching Keine before it's too late.

She's so focused on that goal that she fails to notice the Powerwild trying to claw her from behind turning to dust and having its heart free, nor does she notice the edging from Kyo and Luna to hurry up and save the woman.

The ghostly Mokou smiles at the blonde girl, then quickly pulls her hands out of Keine's chest with her heart on her vile hands, and with a chuckle, she disappears into a dark vortex.

Maribel screams in her frustration after failing to save her friend, repeatedly calls for Keine, but can't even hear herself doing so, but even so, she manages to land next to the empty body, and catch it before it falls to the ground.

"Keine. Keine!", she desperately whispers, smacking the woman's cheeks in hopes of waking her up.

The others arrive a minute after herself, just to watch in horror and despair as Keine's empty eyes close up on their own.

Maribel ends up crying on the woman's chest, Kyo looks away, snarling to the air, Medicine tries hard to not show any emotion, and fails when her tears start to well up under her eyes, and Goofy initially covers his mouth to suppress his gasp, and is quick to offer a warm hand on the blonde cat-girl's shoulder.

Kyo immediately takes notice of Luna's lost and horrified face, but before he makes his move, she slowly moves her confused and empty gaze to meet his eyes, and asks "what just... She's gone? Cid too? I failed them?"

He doesn't wait of the invitation, and quickly grabs his girl and holds her tight against himself, where she lets herself go, drops her sword, returns the embrace, and cries out loud "**they're gone! I failed them!**"

* * *

**LATE NOON**

After having calmed his girlfriend down, Kaizo Yumeda sighs his grief away, and says "we can't stay here. We have to move, or else we will be in danger."

"That's right. Listen to the boy."

Mokou's mocking voice, now sounding warped, echoed and twisted, mixing with the ghostly half of herself, earns the scornful glares from the remaining party members.

Luna trembles as she bites her bottom lip hard enough to draw a trickle of blood, picks her swords up from the ground, and with her body trembling with rage, she shouts "GIVE THEM BACK! GIVE KEINE AND CID BACK! HE'S GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!"

The immortal raises her left hand, and from it ignites a black flame as she says "Cid? He's not important. Don't worry about him. He's probably home right now, that is, if the Heartless didn't take him already."

She raises her right hand, and ignites an orange flame from it as she says "_her_ heart, however, now belongs to us. We have **nothing** to fear anymore. Nobody can interfere. With her on our side, history will run its course, right through the full moon."

She joins her hands together to make a black flame with an orange center, and says "sorry, but we still want that empty shell she left behind. You won't mind, I'm sure."

Kyo's sword bursts with golden flames as he, Goofy, Maribel, Medicine, and Luna, stand firm in front of Keine's body, then the boy points the blade at the immortal, and says "you're not touching her again."

Mokou shoots the mixed flame, which Kyo easily deflects with his shield and shouts "spread out! Don't give her room!"

The party spreads out, while Goofy and Kaizo go forth for the first attack.

The immortal girl kicks the humanoid dog, but gets a slash from the boy's sword that sends warm jolts of pain into her cold heart.

She screams as she bends over, holding her stomach, instead of the cut, or her flaming heart, the Goofy takes the chance and spins in place with his arms extended, landing several hits on the immortal's face before sending her flying away.

Maribel and Luna don't even give Mokou the chance to get back up as they both shower her with hearts and kunai bullets, then Luna jumps in, viciously lands the thick and tall platforms of her geta sandals on her target's stomach, then jumps away just before the immortal girl ignites herself in fire again.

Even though in pain, Mokou manages to stand up, roars "**I WILL KILL YOU ALL!**", then lifts both arms to her side and starts shooting wave after wave of black and orange flames all around herself.

In her rage, she fails to notice Medicine sneaking below the danmaku, and by the time she notices, she is it by a nerve-wrecking poison that could kill a normal human.

Though she falls, the immortal girl retains her consciousness, but that's just what the doll was hoping for, and as she gets closer to the downed girl, she sinisterly says "to think you'd stoop so low. I am not holding back anymore."

Su-San rushes out of nowhere and tears through Mokou's shoulder, then Medicine grabs the immortal by the back of the head, and delivers a punch to her face with skin-burning poison oozing all over her knuckles.

The burning is bad enough to cause the immortal girl to free herself from the poisonous youkai's grip, but even as she holds her burning face and screams in agony, she lands a massive ball of fire straight in to the blonde's chest, blowing her far away from reach.

Fujiwara furiously rubs her face, trying her best not to scratch herself, for doing so would only make it burn more, and now she hears footsteps headed her way, and there's nothing she can do to even see who it is.

Kyo reaches the blinded girl, cuts a golden flaming X in the air with his sword and pushes it toward Mokou, who feels as though she's being repeatedly cut in an X shape over and over, while being pushed back to Goofy.

"COME ON!", shouts the black dog as he rockets upward and pushes the immortal along with his shield.

He finishes the attack by pushing the girl towards the boy, and shouts "take it from 'ere, Kyo! Take that thing out of 'er!"

"ON IT," roars the muscled boy as he intercepts Mokou in the air and summersaults the same way as Mickey would, punishing Mokou until there's no fight left in her, then smashes her down to the ground with all his might.

The fiery girl can only grunt as her body hits the ground, and though weak, she moans as she tries to get back up, but Kyo is already on her, raising his emblem arm and roaring.

Unknown to him, yet known at the same time, he is filling the emblem with the power of his own heart, and with it, the emblem itself glows red.

The glow becomes a small, round fluff of light that, as soon as the boy places his hand on the immortal's stomach, rushes through him and goes inside of her.

Mokou screams as though in agonizing pain, the dark purple crystal inside of her, similar to that of Reimu's prison, reveals itself to Medicine, Kyo and Goofy, the latter gasping before saying "that's just like Miss Reimu's crystal!"

"Destroy it," edges the poisonous girl, and that is just what the boy intends to do.

"Let me go!"

All heads turn to the left, where Maribel lies on her back on the ground, while the beat-up Luna is being held by the ghostly Mokou, the very same way she held Keine before taking her heart.

The ghost grins as she reaches inside the girl's chest, then laughs and says "two powerful hearts in just one night! I'm on a roll!"

The boy, doll and dog completely forget their duty, and rush to the girl's aid, while said girl struggles bravely against the ghost.

From the emblem, Patchouli desperately calls "NO, KYO! You almost had her! What happened? Yumeda!"

"Let her go," demands the boy as he speeds up, calling off his shield to gain more momentum.

The ghostly Mokou chuckles, lifts high to the air with the girl, then shrugs, says "fine. Here you go," and lets the weakened girl fall to her death.

Kyo kicks off the ground and manages to fly as fast as Momiji can run, though only for a second, which is enough for him to catch his girl, and save her life.

They roll several times on the ground, come to an abrupt stop, then the boy quickly gets back up, rushes to the girl, places her upper body on his lap, and taps her face while softly calling for her.

It seems her heart has been taken, for after so many calls, the girl doesn't respond, even once.

Kyo starts to sob, tears start flowing down his eyes, and embraces the girl while crying "no! Luna, don't go! Dammit, don't go! I don't want to do this without you!"

He feels a weak pair of hands returning his embrace, then the girl softly says "you... idiot. I'm tougher than... than you are."

A mixture of sobs and chuckles escape the boy as he tightens the embrace on the girl, and happily cries "you're ok! Dammit, don't scare me like that! Dammit all, Luna! Don't scare me like that again!"

Medicine clears her throat, and when the black haired boy looks up with dry eyes and a clam face, he sees her looking down on the couple with a somewhat worried and disgusted face, and to her right is Goofy, helping the weak, but smiling Maribel keep on her feet.

The little blonde taps her foot impatiently, then angrily says "we forgot Mokou! Kyo, she's on her feet again! We have to get out of here, like right now!"

Fire rains all over the group, and all they can do is duck and cover their heads, however, the fireballs only explode very weakly and cause very little damage.

Behind them, Mokou is holding her stomach and breathing hard through her mouth.

Black ooze dribbles from the corner of her mouth, which she spits to the side before roaring "you! I'm going to make you all suffer!"

She lifts her arm and tries to ignite a flame, but what she gets it a burning pain on her stomach that forces her to bend over while holding herself.

The thought of rushing her now and ending this crosses the heroes' minds, but the immortal girl is no fool, and in a last, desperate attempt to save herself, she shouts "**GET AWAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!**", giving herself a boost of power that allows her to generate a burst that sends everyone, even herself, flying sky high to separate directions.

* * *

Mokou's clothes tear a bit after she bounces off some bamboo shoots, crashes on the ground of a secluded clearing nearing the exit of the Bamboo Forest, and instead of resting, she quickly rolls on her stomach, and gets on her knees.

She holds her stomach while wincing and breathing hard through her teeth, she coughs a bit more black ooze out of her mouth, then whimpers "oh no. The light is taking her back. No, I need her. She's too strong to let go! Too dangerous!"

The girl coughs a whole black blob, this one with bits of purple slime on it, grimaces while shaking in place, then says "master. Master will be displeased. I have to do it. I have to find that light first... Where is it?"

She closes her eyes, and finds herself inside a wide and fiery room, where the real Mokou Fujiwara's spirit is currently sleeping soundly, surrounded by a ring of fire that keeps her floating vertically.

The purple Mokou snarls with every breath taken as she looks around the flaming room, then smiles when she finds a bright light that seems to be eating through the gobs of darkness that used to cover the entirety of that heart she's in.

The ghostly girl points a shaking finger at the spark of light, and says "you won't free her! I'll kill _her_ first!"

With that, the dark ghost closes her eyes, and focuses, humming while taking all her concentration, and focusing it all on the task at hand.

An eerie dark purple aura surrounds her ghostly body, the entire aura seems to lift itself off the girl's body, rising up above her head and concentrating into a ball.

The dark immortal looks up with a vicious grin, and says "I don't care what master said. I'm KEEPING this body, even if I have to kill that Reimu girl for it!"

She shoots the now-massive orb of darkness at the light, and the two clash inside the immortal's heart, shooting dangerous sparks of light and darkness all over the narrow, yet ample space.

The darkness easily consumes the light, and it immediately shoots out of the immortal's heart and out of Mokou's body, back outside to the real world, and zips all the way back to Reimu, reaching her the very second Shanghai's crystal is destroyed.

Back at the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, Mokou is back on her feet, her eyes have turned dark purple, almost getting to be fully black, and with a satisfied grin on her face, she inspects her entire body.

"Yes, yes, _yeeessssss_," celebrates the dark immortal. "This body remains mine! And the maiden survived my attack too. She's strong, I'll give her that, but not strong enough. Heh, now, I want to find those despicable _heroes_ and give them a token of appreciation for all their hard work."

She starts to cackle with her hands raised to chest height, ignites to black flames, one above each hand, and countless Heartless start gathering around her, all seemingly eager to join in her celebration.

* * *

**EARLY EVENING**

Kyo paces back and forth in front of Eirin's Clinic, muttering while doing so, while Goofy sits in front of Reisen, around the living room's table, and Medicine sits outside the mansion, on the stairs to the veranda, with Su-San sitting on her shoulder, and painfully aware of Tewi, who's watching her from the building's corner.

As the boy walks around, from his emblem, Mima asks "so she escaped? What happened to Keine's body? Did she take it with her?"

Before Kyo can answer, Renko's voice comes clear from behind Mima and Patchouli when asking "what about Mary? Is she alright? What happened to Mary! ?"

The boy continues pacing around, while calmly saying "relax, she's fine. Eirin is treating her and Luna as we speak. They had their close calls. But like I said earlier, Keine's heart was taken. Maribel was very upset about it... and I don't blame her."

He takes a calming breath, then says "Mokou has the crystal we are looking for. I knew, because the emblem trembled very hard when near it, but she's a formidable opponent. She and her ghostly clone."

Patchouli sighs hard enough to make it seem like a groan, then says "this is bad. We really need the backup over here."

Kyo gasps, but before he can ask, the purple magician calmly says "we lost one of the girls, we lost all contact with Ail and Mickey, the Heartless keep getting stronger, and if they attack now, I'm afraid we'll lose the shrine to them."

The boy just sighs, looks around as though seeking an answer, but all he sees is Goofy and Medicine looking back at him with wonder from the mansion.

After another sigh, he says "this really sucks. I thought we would have Reimu freed by now, and now you tell me you need help over there. Gah, is there anything anyone can do? I mean, Cid just got sucked by that gassy vortex, then Keine gets subdued by the darkness."

"Kyo," calmly begins Patchouli again. "Be careful when you take on Mokou again. Yes, I know you're going after her. You are too stubborn to just give up. But listen, when Marisa broke the crystal on her target, Reimu's heart almost broke."

The boy gasps, but before he can speak, the girl continues "don't think of stopping now. We HAVE to get Reimu out of there. Just be careful in the way you do it. We'll do our best to... oh, I can hear Donald! Sorry Kyo, but I need to contact them now!"

"Fine," roughly says the boy. "We'll try to get Mokou, and deal with her crystal... somehow."

As soon as he's done, he turns to face Eirin, who stands in front of her clinic with a tired, but satisfied smile on her face, and says "seems things are going sour all over. Still, I got some good news."

Kyo sighs again, thinking "_finally, some good news for a change_," then says "alright. Fire away."

The Lunarian takes her breath, then says "well, Maribel and Luna are just fine. Luna had some odd traces of darkness around her skin, but thankfully, it's nothing to cause alarm. You may go inside and see them whenever you want. And as for Keine, well that's as far as the good news go."

The boy rubs the bridge of his nose while holding his hip, and simply says "go on."

She gives the boy a quizzical look, wondering where to begin, and with a sigh, she begins "well, this is not the first time I've seen someone without a heart, and still have a body. I've dealt with creatures similar to the Heartless before, so I do have some form of experience in the field. Still, I wish to observe her for a little longer. Maybe there is something I can do for her this time."

Kyo smiles and chuckles softly, shakes his head, then says "I see. I won't ask what happened back then, but if there's anything any one of us can do to help, I am sure we'll all pitch in."

Eirin chuckles softly, then says "just cut the sap and head inside. Luna couldn't stop talking about you, you crybaby."

He points a finger under her chin, and gruffly whispers "don't you dare tell the others about that!"

Eirin chuckles again, this time more naturally, then says "would you please just head inside already? I'll have dinner ready soon, so don't take too long."

* * *

Inside the clinic, which is made from bamboo shoots, the boy walks over to the first bed after the waiting room, and cheers "Maribel, how ya' doing, kid?"

The blonde girl smiles, though looks very tired, and says "I'm alright. Still a little sad for Keine, but I mustn't let that get to me. She would be strong and look for a solution. *Yawn* I just need to rest, and I'm sure we'll find a solution to this incident too."

"That's the spirit," says the boy while gently rubbing her head and scratching her cat ears, which seems to please her greatly, and causes her to coo while being scratched.

He quickly excuses himself, then goes to the next bed, where Luna lies looking a little annoyed and disappointed while having her head covered in bandages.

Kyo walks to the right side of the bed, bends over so as to get closer to her face, and after giving her a kiss, he asks "what's wrong? You still sore about what happened?"

She crosses her bandaged arms under her chest, sighs as she looks away, and says "he didn't even have anything to do with all this mess, yet he goes and does the 'heroic sacrifice' crap. And Keine; she was standing right next to me at one moment, then the next, she's lying lifelessly on Maribel's arms. I failed them. After all the crap I keep saying of me being so strong, I failed."

Kyo places his hand on the back of her head under her hair, successfully getting her attention, and softly says "we are dealing with something we cannot really even begin to understand, Luna. Things like these are bound to happen, but don't lose heart, my love. You and me, we are here, together, and together, we are unstoppable."

After getting a smile from the girl, he smiles back, and says "we're getting Keine back. From what Eirin told me, we can get her back. I don't know how, and Eirin won't tell me yet, but I know we can do it. You hear me over there, Maribel? We're getting Keine, and all the others that have fallen to the Heartless, back."

"Others? What others? What happened, Kyo?", anxiously asks the blonde cat girl from her bed.

The boy sighs and says "Renko is fine. She's very worried about you too. Patchouli didn't say who, but she said one of the girls over at the shrine fell to the Heartless."

There is a moment of pause, and after a while, the boy stands up and says "look, don't worry about it. Once we deal with Mokou, we'll head back and see for ourselves. I'm sure everything will be alright by then."

He walks outside the clinic, where Goofy, Reisen and Medicine are waiting, and it doesn't take long for the boy to take notice of the fire in all their eyes and crack a smile.

"Tomorrow, we go Mokou hunting!", bravely says the blonde poison girl with a vicious grin.

"You can count on me for help, Kyo! I won't let ya down, a-hyuk!" cheerfully declares Goofy.

"Master said I am to assist you, so you can count on me too, ok," sweetly says the Moon rabbit with a grin, while holding her fingers shaped like a gun.

Kyo smiles, chuckles softly, then says "excellent, you guys! We won't let this defeat get us down! We'll get Mokou next time, and save all our friends."

After saying this, he notices the group's gazes going somewhere else, so he turns around to look at the large white star flying out of the Forest of Magic, and heading toward the Hakurei Shrine.

They all feel the same while looking at the bright ball of light, but it's Kyo who says "somehow looking at that makes me feel both at ease, and sad."

Unknown to them, they are seeing Donald taking Marisa, Alice, Hourai, and the three mischievous fairies to the shrine, carrying with them the heartless Luna Child and Shanghai.

* * *

**MIDNIGHT**

Eirin Yagokoro mixes Keine's blood with an odd concoction in a large vial, and watches with interest as the contents turn from green to purple upon contact.

She raises a small dropper with a clear liquid over the vial, lets two drops fall inside, and marvels at the sight before her.

The purple liquid becomes crystal clear, though emanates a warm glow, and with some admiration in her voice, she says "so, you're a fighter, as always. I shouldn't be surprised."

Eirin walks over to Keine's body, which lies on a cold metal table, where she's breathing a little erratic for a moment, before suddenly stopping and resuming the lifeless resting.

The Lunarian places her hand on the teacher's chest, hums, then says "so I was right. She didn't take you completely. Well, this will make getting your heart back a whole lot easier."

* * *

To be continued...

Touhou-Project Shrine Maiden elements belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Kingdom Hearts elements belong to Square Enix and Disney Interactive

Other elements belong to their respective owners.

Ail, Kyo, and Luna Rivers were created by Willie G.R.

Maribel's "Dawn Sign, Break Through Twilight" spell card was created by Willie G.R.

MAR 30 2012

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**And so, finally, the next chapter of this crossover project is posted. I would have posted it sooner, but motivational issues were a really big problem. Thankfully, I posted the chapter, and I do plan to continue, and that's what's important. Again I apologize for taking so damned long to update. Please forgive me. Oh, and you may have noticed the lack of Boss Heartless, but Mokou was more than enough of a boss, and this chapter didn't really conclude this "episode".**

**Anyway, it took me a while to readjust myself to this story, and apologize if there's something off with this chapter (though I failed to spot anything too out of whack). Anyway, hope you have enjoyed this long overdue chapter, and hope you'll stick around, for the rest that are sure to come.**

* * *

This Chapter's New Heartless

Powerwild - These monkey-like Heartless come in packs, and the annoying little buggers are very agile. They jump all around and swing those sharp claws at their targets whenever they're in range, but their most annoying and dangerous attack would be when they wind up, then jump at the targets while swinging all their claws. They recover fast from that attack, and will jump out of range after performing it. On the good side of things, if they are hit with the Keyblade (or any attack) while they are performing this attack, they fall on the ground and take a bit to recover. That's when you take revenge on them. Oh, and one needs to be careful of their slide attack. It's fast and annoying.

Heartless Created by Willie G.R.

Fluffbound - These once were rabbits that lived in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. Like their cousins, the Powerwilds, they have large black claws on their hands and feet, and their long feet aren't for show. They jump extremely high thanks to them. Their main attacks are jumping and landing on their targets with their claws, kicking or double-kicking with their large feet, and headbutting their targets after a powerful spring off the ground. They always attack in groups, and will sometimes run away if overwhelmed. They can also shoot danmaku bullets, but won't use them as their main attacks.


	6. Chapter 6

**DAY 1 - MORNING**

Ail and Mickey stand ready in front of the shrine's storage house, and are waiting for the dense boy to get a reading from the emblem on the left side of his belt.

There is a reaction, and the boy knows where it's coming from, so with a smile and a nod, he silently inform the mouse king he is ready to move; that is until Ail's face turns pale and his eyes widen with realization.

"Holy crap, I forgot!", exclaims the dense one while holding his head.

He sets off toward the shrine and is quickly followed by the black mouse, whom asks "wait! Forget what? What about the target?"

They run past Wriggle and Rumia, yelp a quick "hi" to the girls, then keep moving toward the back-entrance to the shrine, leaving those two girls wondering what's going on.

They both reach the room just as Patchouli says to the emblem "well, looks like someone ate the wrong mushroom this morning."

Mima smiles as she waves at the boy and mouse, then they all can hear when the angry Marisa's voice comes loud and clear from the emblem "well, it's seven-thirty in the morning, and I am _awake_ when I should be **sleeping!**"

Everyone grimaces after the unlady-like behavior of the blonde witch, but Ail shakes it off and quickly says "Miss Mima, Miss Patchouli, I almost forgot to tell you."

They all await this important announcement with wonder and expectation, so the dense one takes his breath, and says "though I did instruct Cirno and her friends to help out, please remember that you can contact me and Mickey at ANY time at all if you ever need help, and we'll come here faster than you can cough!"

The proud boy smiles quite contently, while Mima, Patchouli, Mickey himself, and even Cirno, Daiyousei, Wriggle, Mystia and Rumia, from outside the door, stare at that proud boy with so much disbelief, he quickly feels the sting of those stares.

He looks around with a bit of confusion, then asks "wh-what? Is there something on my face?"

The purple magician holds the bridge of her nose, while the evil spirit's grin goes from one cheek to the next, then said spirit wraps an arm around the dense boy's neck and rubs his head with her fist, while sweetly cooing "you're so cute when you act all stupid like that."

Tears dangle under Ail's white, disk-like eyes as he whimpers "hey, that was harsh."

Mickey sighs, pats the boy on the elbow, and says "come on, let's just go. The target IS in the same spot, right?"

The dense boy concentrates for a bit, smiles, nods, then says "let's go," takes Mima's arm off, then says "remember, you contact us if you need help!"

The girls groan inward, not wanting to offend the smiling boy again, then nod while Patchouli says "we get it. Just get going already."

* * *

A blue gap opens up right in front of the field of the Lilies-of-the-Valley at the Nameless Hill, and a second after, Ail and Mickey jump out of it, allowing it to close afterward.

Both of them shield their eyes from the sun as they scan the area, then the brown haired boy says "whatever the source is, it's not very far from here. Keep a lookout of anything strange."

The mouse king looks up at the face of his partner, then says "um, Ail, buddy, I'm still kind'a new around here. Anything here may seem strange to me."

"Good point," rapidly answers the boy while looking around, but before he can develop the conversation any further, he spots something odd.

A dark, gassy vortex opens up above the very center of the poisonous flower fields, and from within it, he can hear a screaming girl getting closer to the opening by the second.

He doesn't let Mickey finish his rescue command as he flies off toward the swirling vortex.

A girl in pink clothes with a red staff on hand, falls out of the vortex straight toward the poisonous field, screaming and calling for help.

Ail is still too far, so he activates his Yozoragan blood limit, and flies as low as he can without touching the flowers, flaps the ethereal dragon wings, and answers the girl's prayer by catching her just before she falls on the poisonous plants.

"Wha-what's going on? Where am I?" asks the disoriented girl while looking at her surroundings and clinging tightly to the boy's neck, chocking him in the process.

Ail coughs, lands safely away from the lilies, forces his head free from that vice grip, then, after several breaths of recovery, asks "are you alright, Miss?"

The girl moves those green eyes all around herself, slows them down as she calms down, then looks to Mickey, who asks "Miss, is something wrong?"

The girl drops on her butt, places her hand over her face as she sighs, then softly, yet desperately says "I can't believe I let myself fall to such a trap. There I was, helping my friends deal with the Heartless that invaded our home, and after a sudden sea or darkness, I find myself in a strange new world."

Mickey and Ail stare at the girl, then the boy admirably says "wow. Only ten seconds here, and she's figured that much out."

The girl suddenly springs on her feet, smiling nervously and waving her arms in front of her, while anxiously saying "no, no! Sorry, I didn't mean to offend your homes or anything!"

The brown haired boy calmly shakes his head and says "no, it's alright. You haven't offended anyone," helping the girl calm down.

The black mouse approaches the girl, bows his head with respect, and says "since you already understand the situation you are in, I must assume you are aware of Keyblade wielders and their duties. My name is Mickey Mouse, from Disney World's Magic Kingdom. This is my friend, Ail. What's your name, Miss."

The brown haired girl looks up, gasps when she realizes her rudeness, bows, and says "I'm so sorry! My name is Aerith! Um, nice to meet you, Your Majesty Mickey, and Mister Ail."

When the girl looks up again, she gasps at the sight before her, though quickly turns to the king, who stands shrugging while glancing up at her and saying "I don't know what's going on either."

Sanae stands right behind Ail, and has him trapped in a vicious headlock that threatens to snap his head off, and with glowing red eyes that look like dark stars in the night sky, she softly and ominously asks "Ail-kun~ sweetie, what are you doing with this cute girl?"

Mickey snaps his fingers, then casually says "don't worry about it, Miss. He just saved her from the poisonous flowers, and she's just introduced herself as Aerith. That's all."

The green haired girl's being changes to that of friendly and sweet, she lets her boyfriend drop to the ground to breathe, then extends her hand to Aerith, and smiles as she says "is that all? Hello, my name is Sanae. I haven't seen you around here before. Are you new around these parts?"

The girl in pink sighs, shakes her head, then says "I was forced here by some odd swirling vortex spell, though I still don't know where _here_ is."

"This is Gensokyo, paradise for youkai, a place where everyone is welcome, and where one cannot be held back by common sense," happily replies the shrine maiden while looking a bit smug.

It's now _her_ turn to yelp and shiver when her shoulder is under Ail's grip, as he angrily asks "Sanae, what are you doing here? I thought you were hurt! And what happened with Budou and Phredia?"

The girl turns around and defeats her boyfriend's angry face with her own angry smile, and says "Kanako-sama and Suwako-sama are taking good care of Budou. Now the reason I am here..."

She places both hands on her man's shoulder, and with a look of worry she says "I am here because I saw this huge snake-like creature with something purple glowing on its tail, and I thought 'hey, I bet my sweetheart is chasing **this** thing', and as night becomes day, **here you are!** Ail-kun, why are you chasing after the scary creature?"

He returns the gesture and places his hand on the girl's shoulders, and says "I don't really know because I haven't seen it. More importantly, what happened to your wounds? You should be resting, not out here chasing after me."

The green haired girl sighs, hugs her man, forces him to embrace her, then asks "why does so much trouble fall on your lap?"

She kisses his cheek, relaxing him, then softly says "I am fully healed, you cute idiot. Did you forget? I am a human god, and don't you dare say it. I am not leaving your side until this mess is solved."

The couple remain in place, holding each other warmly before the visitors, whom smile and coo, and after a sniffle Aerith sweetly says "if Tifa could only see this."

And that's when the hugging couple remember where they are, and quickly let go of each other in order to look away with bright red faces, muttering incoherent words while trying to excuse themselves, while still holding each other's hands.

* * *

The cute awkwardness is quickly dissolved when the familiar sound of Heartless popping out of darkness graces the group's ears.

When they turn around to face the two Blue Rhapsodies and the couple of odd-looking flowers, Aerith groans and says "oh no. Heartless here too?"

She brandishes her staff with elegance, prepares herself for the inevitable attack, then says "those giant flowers are Poison Plants, and they are very dangerous! Be very careful around them."

The Poison Plants, as their name implies, spit poison, and look like human-sized flowers with four salmon pink petals surrounding a black body, which has the black and red heart emblem, has a golden band just before its green stem, where its hexagonal head links to, its face is dark blue with golden borders, has jagged teeth for a mouth, yellow eyes, and four salmon pink petals with white edges around its head.

Mickey and Ail summon their Keyblades, Sanae pulls her gohei from her skirt's waistband, then the dense boy says "don't use ice, keep away from the poisonous fields, and try not to hit the lilies, or Yuka's going to blame **me** for it."

The shrine maiden and boy take flight and go after the Heartless in the middle of the field, while the kingly mouse and visiting girl handle the four Poison Plants near the edges of the poisonous field.

Mickey and Aerith get as close as they can to the large plants, look at each other with a smile on their faces, then the girl casually says "you are correct..."

Mickey lifts his Star Seeker, Aerith lifts her staff, a small fireball forms at the tips of both, then the girl continues "fire does plenty of damage to them," then both shoot their small spells.

Meanwhile, Sanae is having some fun with the Blue Rhapsodies, and laughs as she shoots them relentlessly with her talisman danmaku, while chasing them all over the field of flowers and easily dodging their ice barrages.

On the other hand, Ail is flying as low as he can and swirling around in order to strike the Poison Plants heads with his held out Keyblade of light, while swaying around to avoid the large, dripping orbs of poison they spit from their faces.

The boy loops over the wide field for a second run through, this time going a little faster while swinging his Kingdom Keyblade in front of himself, and striking the monsters on their bodies.

He releases the hearts from those flowers after one more hit from his weapon, and after dealing with the sixth and last Poison Plant, he looks over to Sanae when he hears that satisfying plop of Heartless turning into dust.

"Whoa! Sanae-chan, you're amazing!", exclaims the boy when he sees his girl shooting the last Rhapsody on the head with her talisman, and releasing its heart with one shot.

The girl turns around with her left eye closed while sticking out her tongue at him, giggles innocently as her skirt dances around her, then says "this was the seventh one too."

Ail approaches his girlfriend while curiously asking "wait, weren't there only two?"

Sanae's smile widens as she says "oh, there were, but then more kept coming out of dark blobs when I killed the others. This is almost more fun than youkai hunting."

The half-youkai boy chuckles nervously and says "you don't say...", then both turn their heads toward Mickey and Aerith, whom have just finished off a third pair of Poison Plants with basic fire spells, the king releasing the heart from his Heartless, while the girl's own spells merely turns them to black dust.

The couple approaches the human and mouse, all wave at each other, and as the two locals land, Aerith happily says "this is wonderful. We barely know each other, and I'm already enjoying my time with you. Even with all the Heartless around."

Mickey, however, looks around with suspicion and says "Ail, something's off. This was all too easy, and those monsters were laughably weak too."

Ail gasps, grabs the king, then says "Sanae, grab Aerith! Our target is moving further into the hills!"

The shrine maiden quickly takes flight, grabs the newcomer under her arms, then a thunderous roar rattles the entire area, stopping all in their tracks.

After a few seconds, Sanae lands again after noticing the boy's hesitation, and asks "Ail-kun, what's the matter? Aren't we going after it?"

The dense boy sighs, releases the mouse and places his hand on his forehead, then sadly says "no use. It's moved somewhere else. More like teleported. I can't tell where it is now."

Aerith looks at her friends' disappointed faces, then asks "excuse me, but can someone please tell me what's going on here? Why are Heartless invading your home?"

The boy, mouse and maiden stare at the girl, then Ail sits on the ground and says "well, it's going to take a while to figure out where our target is now, so might as well fill you in, that is, if you're interested in helping."

The girl in pink smiles sweetly, sits down along her new friends, and says "I was brought here by the Hands of the Fates. I will help you fight the Heartless, if that is indeed the reason I fell her for."

And so, with smiles on everyone's faces, Ail, Sanae, and Mickey begin to tell their story.

* * *

**MIDDAY**

While sitting on a semi circle with his well-informed friends and girlfriend, Ail meditates in an attempt to find the target's new location.

Sanae looks around and to the sky, then suddenly says "hey, have you noticed the lack of fairies? When I was flying over here, I only ran into two small groups of them, and they were so stressed, they blew themselves up. So boring."

Before the boy's reply comes, his emblem vibrates along with Renko's voice coming from it as she shouts "Ail, Mickey, we need help!"

The boy and the mouse look at each other, then look at the girls, the dense one opens his gap, then the green haired girl says "go! We'll wait here."

As soon as those two are gone, Aerith looks at Sanae, then asks "wouldn't it have been more prudent to go with them?"

To this, the shrine maiden face palms hard, and sighs irritably before saying "ugh, you're right."

Ail opens his gap right above the cluster of Fluttering Furies at the shrine, and as he and Mickey fall, they spin around with their Keyblades extended, and release the little monsters' hearts after two quick hits.

As soon as they break through, the dense boy takes flight, points to the back, and shouts "Mima needs us!", then he and the king head toward the back of the shrine.

The evil spirit is having the time of her life with the Heatless, blasting one after the other with a single red spark from her hand, but she's clearly overwhelmed by the numbers of monsters increasing.

"Come on, COME ON! Come get some from **this** Mima! I got plenty for all of you!"

Though she bravely declares this, she's thinking "_well, looks like I'm screwed. Might as well make the most of it._"

She turns around to burn the dark fairy that zipped past her, turning it to black dust, and when she turns around again, she is left in awe.

Ail and Mickey are zigzagging all over the ground and the sky, and are doing short work of the dark little monsters, and after a whistle of admiration, she says "sons of a spark. Here I am, busting my tail with these things, and they just breeze through them."

She quickly snaps out of her surprise, and immediately lifts her staff and summons several red lasers that bounce off the surfaces, but not the Fluttering Furies' bodies.

After the laser blasts one of the Furies in front of Ail, the boy looks to the evil spirit, who calls "they're after Reimu! Don't give them the chance!"

"Like we're gonna let them," calls the boy back after thrusting his Keyblade through three dark fairies stomachs.

"Thunder Sign, Thundaga," shouts Mickey seconds before a shower of yellow bolts releases the hearts of several Heartless at once, and earning himself another admiration whistle from Mima.

Ail looks down at the two boasters, then says "hey, stop showing off. You're making me look bad up here!"

The green-haired spirit grins, and says "what? You're doing _that_ on your own, Mister Man."

The brown-haired boy looks down at the two, then says "is that so~?"

Rumia comes from behind, bites his head, and with her mouth full of him she angrily says "shtoh shetahing mhy hinesh!" (Stop stealing my lines)

The dense boy starts screaming and flying around as fast as he can, activating his Yozoragan blood limit and swinging his weapon around madly, taking out one Heartless after the other with just one of those random strikes.

After a twirl, he manages to slip the little blonde off, but doesn't take notice, and screams "come on Rumia, let me go," while flying around erratically and taking out the dark fairies that try to escape him.

Mima and Mickey follow the boy with their eyes while he continues to scream and fly around, then the king says "boy, he did really good. Think we should tell him?"

The evil spirit laughs, then says "nah, let him figure it out. We better go help the little girls now."

The mouse nods to this, and follows the green haired magician to the front of the shrine.

Meanwhile, Ail continues "come on Rumia, enough is enough! Seriously, just for that line? Co-" and midway through his screaming he finally notices Rumia is helping Wriggle, Mystia, Cirno and Daiyousei with a large Fluttering Fury.

He then proceeds to touch his head to realize he's free, and not only that, but the sky is now clear of all Heartless, though he doesn't know it was him, and slumps as he heads on over to the group gathering by the donation box, and says to himself "man, I messed up. Left Mima and Mickey to fend off on their own. So stupid."

He lands between Renko and Mickey, and before they can speak, they can hear the girls exclaiming their surprise when the large Heartless becomes a large pink crystal heart that flies to the sky.

After the girls look around, Cirno finally snaps out of her confusion and while still looking around, she exclaims ""HA! WE SAVED A HEART! AIL, MICKEY, WE RELEASED A HEART!"

The group near the donation box smile lightly, then Mickey says "welp, we better get back to our own task, now that the shrine is safe."

Anilan nods and says "good idea. Sanae and Aerith are waiting."

Mima's evil spirit grin claims her cute face, and mischievously says "so, your girl, and another girl are waiting for you. How nice it must be to be such a young heartbreaker."

Ail gasps, imagines Sanae's heart breaking into two pieces, making the girl gasp with pain and scream as she falls to the ground, and with a frightful tone, he says "h-HEY! That's not funny! I'd never do something so vile!"

Renko chuckles along with Patchouli and Mima, and says "oh, he obviously missed the actual joke," then everyone starts to laugh hard, while Cirno walks over to the boy's left, and shares the same confused raised eyebrow look, making each other look like father and daughter.

The others look at the two idiots and can't help but notice they have the same look, and even Mickey starts to laugh harder, confusing both boy and ice fairy even more.

Meanwhile, back at the Nameless Hill, Sanae and Aerith sit on the ground in front of each other, and giggle before the green-haired girl says "and then, he tried to hug me, but tripped on a root and fell on top of me. Hahahaha! His face was so red, and he wouldn't stop apologizing until I kissed him an hour later."

The girls laugh for a bit, then the pink-dressed girl says "he's sweet, but, I hope you don't mind me saying this, he seems kind of silly."

The shrine maiden covers her mouth as she laughs, then says "oh, you have no idea. He's pretty dense too, but he's got a great heart. Can't complain there."

Ail's gap opens up right behind Sanae, the boy and the mouse jump out of it, and when the shrine maiden gets up to try and greet her boyfriend, he grabs her by the shoulders and stares at her chest.

The girl's face turns beet red, and before she kills him, she squeals "Ail-kun, what do you think you are doing? EH?"

She lets out an adorable little yelp when the boy suddenly hugs her tightly and says "you're alright! Your heart is not broken! Stupid Mima, making such mean jokes!"

Sanae manages to lift her hand high enough to pat the boy on the back, and while doing so, she looks with confusion at Mickey, whom is also getting quizzical looks from Aerith.

He shrugs after a while, then says "Mima made a joke about him being a heartbreaker, and... I think he took it too literally."

The shrine maiden rolls her eyes as she sighs out loud, then manages to free her arms to return the hug, calms Ail down while rubbing his head, and says "it's alright Ail-kun. I'm fine. My heart is not broken."

* * *

The Myouren Temple; a sanctuary for youkai, and a few humans, that practices the unity of both races, is normally a peaceful settlement bustling with youkai activity, but today it is not.

The outer walls are burned, some have been destroyed by large blasts, Ichirin's garden around the entrance grounds is a complete mess with just a few flowers left standing, and the temple itself is currently surrounded by three kinds of Heartless.

One wears a green robe, a yellow scarf around the neck, orange gloves, a green cylindrical hat, has a blue bottom, a round blue face with yellow dot for eyes, and has the black and red heart emblem on the chest of its robes.

The second type looks feminine, and wears a lavender headdress with a red-violet inner lining that covers her face, save for her two yellow dots for eyes, and has the black and red heart emblem on its forehead.

It dresses in a navy blue tank top, baggy blue and lavender pants, thin purple shoes, adorns itself with thick white bands on the wrists and ankles, has dark purple skin, long thin arms, big, four-fingered hands it adorns with a golden ring on its index finger, and is standing in what looks like a crystal ball with swirling energy.

The third are Fluttering Furies, which seem to have taken over the fairies' jobs of being annoying little nuisances for Gensokyo.

Fighting these monsters are Ichirin Kumoi, who has a dark-blue nun's hood she's currently has lowered, revealing her long, wavy light-purple hair she's get on a ponytail, has dark purple eyes, and wears a long-sleeved white dress with dark blue borders on the bottom, and with her is Unzan, a large pink Nyuudo whom has a thick beard and mustache, and attacks with massive pink fists that mix with the girl's thick pink bullets.

Nazrin, whom has shoulder-length grey hair, red eyes, large grey mouse ears, wears a brownish-black dress with long pink sleeves, a grey capelet on her shoulders, a crystal pendulum necklace, and has an empty basket hanging by the tip of her tail, is flipping around the roof and striking the female-like Heartless with her black dowsing rods.

Meanwhile, Nue Houjuu, who has short black hair, dark red eyes, metallic-looking red wings with sharp edges to the right, blue tail-like wings with arrow tips to the left, has a snake coiled on her right arm, and wears a black dress with a red yin-yang-like tomoe design on the corner of the skirt, a red ribbon at the collar, and black thigh-high stockings and red shoes, twirls around taking Heartless out with a combination of her black trident and magical arrow attacks.

Ail's gap opens up right in front of the temple ground's destroyed gates, the party of four jump out of the rift, then Sanae asks "and are you sure it's here, or are you just for Byaku-"

She cuts her own sentence short when her eyes fall upon the messed temple grounds and the insane battle against the Heartless happening over at the main temple building.

Ail, Aerith and Mickey quickly run toward the girls to aid them, and when the shrine maiden finally takes notice, she clicks her tongue and says to herself "hmph. He seems to be in a hurry to help around here. Ugh, what am I thinking?"

She takes flight, pushes herself with a gust of wind, and as she flies over the trio, she says "meet you guys there~"

The dense boy clicks his tongue and says "that cheater," but ignores this and quickly summons his Keyblade of light when the Heartless take notice of their presence, and attack.

"Fortunetellers and Bookmasters! Ail, Mickey, elemental magic is useless against those with books, and those that look like women are weak against fire. Both are very weak against physical attacks, but don't underestimate them. Those fairy-like Heartless I know nothing of."

The two boys acknowledge Aerith's commands, then the mouse says "don't use ice around the Fluttering Furies, and careful with their bullets," and quickly jumps over three ice crystals and strikes a Bookmaster on the head, releasing its heart.

Ail is plowing his way through Fortunetellers and Fluttering Furies, dealing with all in two to four strikes each, in his desperate attempt to reach the temple and his girlfriend.

Meanwhile, Sanae joins Ichirin and Unzan, and when the light-purple haired girl takes notice of the shrine maiden, she loudly says "thank The Buddha! Please, don't let them into the temple! They are after Shou!"

The green haired girl doesn't fully understand why the youkai is so distressed, but she's not about to let the Heartless through, so with a grin on her face, she demands "keep your distance from me, youkai," then lifts a spell card.

The nun is about to shoot a bullet at the seemingly cocky girl, until she notices the spell card the girl is holding, and quickly flies away, taking Unzan with her, and only a second after she's clear, the blue and white girl declares "Miracle, Night of the Supernova Storm!"

The cluster of Heartless close to the temple are quickly overwhelmed by the massive star forming above Sanae's head, and those that somehow escape the range of the spell, or are too low to be affected, are quickly struck by arrows of pure white light that shoot themselves from the massive orb.

Meanwhile, Mickey and Nazrin find each other while fighting the remaining Bookmasters, and as soon as they meet, the grey mouse youkai holds the king by the neck, and squints her eyes while looking closely into his.

The staring goes on for at least eight seconds, then the girl smiles and contently says "I knew it! You and I are NOTHING alike!"

"Um, did I miss something here, Miss?", asks the clearly confused black mouse, to which Nazrin simply giggles and says "it's nothing. Let's just get rid of these things.

And so, Mickey jumps high to the air, somersaulting with his Keyblade extended, and taking out Bookmasters with a few hits.

Down at the grounds, Nue is frozen inside a chunk of ice, while Aerith is busy with a dark fairy, and two Fortunetellers.

She swings her staff with grace and deadly precision, and takes out Heartless by the numbers with just two hits on their heads or necks, and when she finally finishes off the last of the dark girls, the youkai's ice prison shatters to bits.

The undefined girl blubbers and stammers while rubbing her entire body in order to fight the intense cold, then she quickly feels her warmth return to her when something touches the back of her neck.

She looks up to Aerith, grimaces while blushing lightly, then mumbles "um, th-thanks," then suddenly rolls forward and jabs her trident in front, taking out four Heartless at once, saving the pink-clad girl from being rushed.

With a more confident smile, Nue looks back, flips a thumb up, and says "now we're even, lady!"

Ail flies by, trailing several Fluttering Furies behind himself, then flies up as high as he can, turns around, joins his wrists together and spreads his hands open, and with a frown he says "and this is where you die."

He focuses his energy on his palms, and in a second, he unleashes an orange orb that flies fast toward the dark monsters, and explodes on the faces of all, releasing all those hearts after the darkened bodies turn to black dust.

As soon as the boy lands, he looks around the temple before getting hugged from behind by Sanae, then Ichirin sighs with relief and says "I'm so glad you guys came when you did! Another minute, and the Myouren Temple would have been done for."

Aerith smiles as she heals both Ichirin and Nazrin with that green spark magic pouring out of her hands, then says "in a fight against Heartless, backups are always welcome."

The temple girls stare at Aerith and Mickey, then look at Ail and Sanae and the mouse girl asks "please introduce your allies already."

* * *

Once everything has calmed down, the large group go inside the temple to speak over some tea at the guest's table.

With some green tea on hand, and a cookie in the other, Nazrin says "those Heartless things came over and attacked Shou relentlessly. She was doing the same thing you and Mickey were doing. Releasing their hearts, and stuff, but..."

Ichirin, whom hasn't even touched her treats of her tea, looks down at the table and says "she fought like I've never seen her fight before, alongside a woman hooded in black, but she suddenly lost her will after that woman lured a number of those monsters away, and then those black fairies harmed her greatly. If it wasn't for Byakuren and myself, she would have..."

"The thing is," quickly takes over the mouse, drawing attention away from her friend, whom is grateful for the gesture, "the moment Byakuren and Minamitsu shut Shou in her room, those monsters started attacking more ferociously, and brought those annoying Bookmaster things. Not only that, but Master herself started wailing and holding her chest real tight."

Nue shivers as she remembers, then says "I saw it. An eerie glow around her chest made her stretch around while wailing like some banshee. I am ashamed to admit, but seeing that was so scary. *Gulp* I'm still shaking like a coward just thinking about it."

The grey mouse youkai holds her stomach and grimaces as though in pain while looking at her tea, and says "Byakuren-san has been trying to heal Master between attacks, but the Heartless keep attacking, so..."

"But enough of that," suddenly barks Ichirin after standing up. "You didn't come here to hear us whine about our problems. Tell us more about this signal and this monster you are chasing. And Unzan, leave our guest alone."

The Nyuudo is currently flying around as a formless cloud above Aerith's head, and seems to pout as he flies lazily back to his partner, then the girl in pink says "it's alright. He wasn't bothering me at all. In fact, he was just telling me he felt a strange presence not too long ago."

"Yeah, he told me the same thing. Funny I didn't feel it," says the youkai nun after replacing her hood and softly greeting the pink cloud.

Ail finishes his tea, looks at the emblem on his belt, and says "only Sanae-chan has been able to see its shadow. She says it's a giant snake-like creature with something purple glowing on its tail."

The shrine maiden scratches the back of her boyfriend's head, and adds "and I'm completely against having my Ail-kun deal with that thing without me. He needs me."

With a content smile on his face, the dense boy with his girlfriend scratching his head, manages to calmly say "anyways, heheh, I can feel that creature is, ooh-ho, here."

He gently holds his girl's hand with both his own, gently rubs its top twice, and more seriously says "it's strange. It feels like the creature is here, but at the same time, feels distant. Like it's stuck between dimensions or something."

Mickey raises his head, and while somehow getting everyone's attention, he says "Ail, maybe it's on to us and is just toying with us. Or worst, maybe it's after Miss Shou's heart and it's biding its time."

After the quick gasps, he asks "didn't ya tell me she's a god's representative?"

Nazrin nods hesitantly, not wanting to hear where the conversation will lead to, so Mickey thinks his words carefully.

Before he is able to speak, though, from Ail's emblem, Patchouli desperately shouts "AIL! MICKEY! WE NEED HELP!"

The party of four stare at the temple girls, but before anyone says a word, Ichirin commands "go! They need you."

"But what about Shou? Maybe one of us can st-"

Before Ail finishes his sentence, Nue threateningly points at him with her trident, and says "don't underestimate us! We are strong! We can take good care of ourselves!"

Nazrin nods at the dense boy, who feels his girlfriend's hand place itself on his shoulder and says "we'll be back as soon as possible. Please keep each other safe."

He opens up his gap, and this time both Sanae and Aerith walk in with him and Mickey.

When the gap closes up, Ichirin's face becomes pale and full of fear, and looking back at her companions and noticing their faces, she gulps and says "I see. So I'm not the only one with that bad feeling, huh."

* * *

A few moments later, Ail's gap opens up near the ground in front of the shrine's entrance, then the dense boy flies out of it with Mickey on his back, and shortly after, Sanae flies out at the same time Aerith runs to aid the little youkai and the human on the ground.

The duo quickly fly toward where Daiyousei, Rumia, Cirno and Renko are and Mickey declares "Fire Sign, Firaga," at the same time as Ail swings his Keyblade in a sideway-eight formation, and the green haired girl showers the monsters with talismans.

The Heartless surrounding the girls are quickly turned to dust and their hearts are released, but their job isn't done, so the boys quickly move to the back of the shrine, followed promptly by Sanae.

Over at the back courtyard, they find Mystia on the ground, holding her bleeding leg and wincing in pain, while Wriggle does her best and more to protect the night sparrow youkai.

"Don't worry cuties! I'm coming to save you," calls Mima from inside the shrine, but seeing the number of Fluttering Furies and Air Shadows flying into that building tells the trio differently.

"I'll help the spirit inside! Help those two," commands the shrine maiden before diving down to the shrine's building.

Ail and Mickey dive down to a small group of Air Shadows, the mouse king jumps off his friend's back, and somersaulting in the air with his Keyblade extended, he makes short work of the sharp-beaked monsters, saving Mystia and Wriggle.

The dense boy stops in mid-air and holds his own weapon backward, swings it several time to make a triangle out of beams, shoots blue and white orbs at its center, and all the orbs become bolts of light that chase after a target.

He shoots relentlessly as soon as he takes notice its taking at least four or five hits to finish the monsters off, and after some time of shooting, he holds his Keyblade upright again, then launches himself through the triangle.

The triangle itself gets sucked into the Keyblade of light, which begins to glow pure white, and as if guiding itself, it pulls Ail and guides him with deadly accuracy through the numbers of Heartless, taking them out in three continuous hits, which actually looks like just a pass through.

Mickey places the tip of his Keyblade over Mystia's leg, activates a simple healing spell, causing the wound on it to heal quickly, while looking up at the dense boy and smiling when seeing the attack of pure light.

"Man, thank you guys so much! I really thought we were goners," begins Wriggle while helping Mystia back on her feet. "They came back so quickly, and so strong."

The pink-haired girl flaps her wings, as though testing them, then looks at the king and exclaims "what happened? They are so strong now! It's like hitting rocks!"

Before the black mouse can answer, Mima's and Sanae's roars from inside the shrine take all the attention outside, and everyone watches with raised eyebrows at how the Furies and crows fly right out of the door, hate their hearts released, and turn to black dust before touching the ground.

The two green haired girls step out of the shrine holding each other by the shoulders, then the cocky spirit says "and stay out!"

"Yeah," continues the shrine maiden. "You don't mess with these girls!"

"**GET DOOOOWWWWNN!**" screams Ail at the top of his lungs, and not a second later, Patchouli can be heard screaming "** MUUUKYUUUUUUNNNNN~**"

Everybody, save for the few remaining Heartless flying around, quickly throw themselves to the floor, Anilan tackles Mima and Sanae back into the shrine, and shortly after, a miniature sun expands rapidly all over the sky above the shrine.

The Heartless all become black dust in a matter of seconds, and as soon as the small sun fades, the skies over the shrine are revealed to be clear of all enemies.

At the front of the shrine, Patchouli holds her chest tight, panting rapidly through her mouth and smacking her dry mouth, then looks at Aerith, whom has a small smudge on her shoulder, and asks "what *pant* was that?"

The brown haired visitor takes a breath of relief, smiles at the magician, then says "just Curaga, with Haste, and a bit of extra energy, for that extra push."

The purple haired girl grabs the pink-clad girl by the shoulders, and says "you have got to *pant* TEACH me that spell please!"

Those from the back of the shrine regroup with those in front, and as soon as everyone is accounted for, Ail looks at Renko specifically, and asks "is everyone alright? Everybody is here, right?"

After the silent nods, Cirno quickly barks "what's the meaning of this? Those things are cheating! They were really hard to beat, and they knocked me out real fast! What gives?"

She promptly points at Aerith and asks "AND WHO IS THAT! ? SHE IS AWESOME!"

Mickey presents the visitor and says "this would be Aerith, that girl we told you about before. She fell through a portal and Ail rescued her. She's been helping us fight the Heartless afterward."

The dense boy, whom can't seem to take his girlfriend's arms off from around his neck, is about to say something to the ice fairy, when one of Nue's arrows falls right in front of his feet.

After the inevitable gasps while staring at the odd arrow, the party of four look to each other, and simultaneously exclaim "**THE TEMPLE!**"

"Ail, what's going on?" asks Mima in a cold and demanding tone.

The boy opens his gap, and quickly says "I'm not sure, but the temple is in danger! The Heartless are after Shou's heart, and that can't be good, so if you'll excuse us!"

In a sense, the evil spirit allows the party to leave through that gap, and as soon as it closes up, she places her hand on her chest and says "girls, we all need to double our efforts."

* * *

**AFTERNOON**

Back at the Myouren Temple grounds, Ichirin, Nue and Nazrin lie defeated on the ground in front of the main building, with their chests glowing faintly as their hearts are being pulled out.

In front of them hovers a ghastly humanoid-shaped creature with dark-pink skin, a skull-like head with round yellow eyes surrounded by black rings, coiled horns growing where its ears should be, and black plates seemingly growing from the top of its forehead.

It wears a steel blue plated garment with a very long neck that has black on the lower borders and has the black and red heart emblem on the center, a steel blue skirt with black edges on the plates separation, a ghastly tail underneath said skirt, bandages above it, and on its forearms it wears thick black gauntlets with yellow waves adorning the edges.

The monster raises its clawed hands, holding a giant black scythe, and it's blasted on the head by white orbs, and light-blue talismans.

The monster turns around to face Ail, Sanae, Mickey and Aerith, and with a mighty roar, it forgets the defeated girls, and goes on to attack these new intruders.

"Careful Ail!" sternly says Mima from the emblem. That's a Grim Reaper. If it gets into a shadow, he's going to be tougher to beat."

The party nods in assent, then the green haired shrine maiden says "don't worry! I won't let it hurt my Ail-kun, or anybody else!"

"Well said Sanae-chan!" declares the dense boy while he and Mickey rush toward the large monster with their Keyblades held tight.

The Grim Reaper swings its scythe with deadly accuracy, but the boy and the mouse easily jump over the attack and pummel the monster's chest with their Keyblades.

Meanwhile, Aerith and Sanae each take a spell card out of their pockets, and simultaneously declare "**Blinding Light, Burning Stars!**"

The two girls shoot several white sparks at a central point between them until they make a star half the size of Patchouli's Royal Flare, then shoot it straight at the monster.

Ail and Mickey split up to avoid getting hit by the large star, and allow it to hit the stunned monster, making it roar out in pain.

The pure light burns half of the monster's skin away the second it makes contact with it, exposing its white skull and ribs beneath that disgusting pink skin.

The large roaring monster quickly runs away from the party and heads toward the shadow cast by the temple itself, and as soon as it gets under it, its eyes turn red, black patches replace the lost skin, and its scythe begins to glow black and red.

"Watch it. It's up to somethin'" says the black mouse with a scowl.

As if on cue, as soon as the mouse stops speaking, the monster winds its glowing scythe and throws so hard, it looks like a red and black spinning disk.

The monster roars out loud, while Ail, Mickey, and Aerith jump away from the deadly scythe's path, but Sanae remains standing where she is, letting her arms hang down as though in a trance.

"SANAE-CHAN!" shouts the dense boy when he sees his girl standing there without even trying to move, and without thinking of his own safety, he dives down to save her.

On the other side, Mickey and Aerith take notice of what's happening, and decide to attack the Grim Reaper in order to break the hypnosis on Sanae.

Anilan reaches his girlfriend, quickly embraces her, then activates a blue barrier around both of them, but he activates it too late, and the green haired girl yelps after falling to the ground with the boy still holding her tight after the hard impact.

The mouse king and pink-dressed girl reach the fiend and begin their assault on it, however they quickly find out that, while it is under that shadow, his body feels harder, and their attacks do little damage.

Despite this, Mickey is determined to help, so he lifts his Keyblade above his head, a spark of light shines on the teeth of the weapon, and the mouse begins to spin fast in place, lowering and lifting his Keyblade as he spins around, surrounding himself with light and forcing the monster to move out of the shadows.

"Aerith, strike him..." The mouse begins the sentence, but deliberately leaves it unfinished while the scythe returns to it, and when said weapon strikes the creature on the chest, its blade stuck through the monster's body, he finishes "...NOW!"

He and the brown haired girl combine their attacks on the stunned monster's body, striking it relentlessly, then several white orbs and pink talismans strike the monster between the eyes, making it roar one last time as its massive pink heart flies out of its skull-like mouth and heads toward the sky.

Aerith and Mickey immediately look to Sanae and Ail, whom wave back while the boy says "we're fine! What about the other girls!"

"We're fine t-too," grunts Ichirin after managing to stand with some help from Unzan and Nue.

All look tired, weak and beat up, and seems Ichirin is about to drop back on the floor, until they hear a scream coming from inside the temple.

"Dammit! Master!" exclaims the grey mouse with renewed vigor, and running off on her own, ignoring her friends' calls.

"Please, help her," calls the nun toward the regrouping party, whom immediately rush to aid inside the temple.

* * *

Kogasa Tatara, a karakasa youkai with shoulder-length turquoise hair, a turquoise right eye, a red left eye, and wearing a blue-green vest over a long-sleeved white shirt, a light-blue skirt, and wooden geta sandals, swings her eggplant-colored umbrella with one eye and one large red tongue sticking out, and strikes one of three Fortunetellers on the head.

Her strike is weak, and as she falls on her knees and ice starts forming up around her, she weakly says "we couldn't do it, Karakasa. We ended up failing, and after we beat so many."

Ail and Aerith are the first inside the building, and the boy immediately goes after the Heartless, while the girl rushes to heal the little girl, softly saying "hang in there, little one. I'm going to help you."

Anilan quickly takes on one of the Heartless and strikes it twice with his Keyblade, but it remains strong, and moves its crystal ball in an eight formation, forcing its attacker to back off.

Mickey and Sanae each take the rest, and like Ail, are surprised when they notice how strong these monsters are.

"Don't stop until THEY do," commands the king, jumping off the ground and proceeding to spin around his Fortuneteller, and beat it relentlessly with his Keyblade.

Ail combines several strikes of his weapon on the body of the unfortunate Heartless, releases its heart at the same time as Mickey, then looks to Sanae and asks "how the heck did they get so strong? They weren't like this earlier!"

The shrine maiden finishes off her Heartless after a gohei to the head, looks at her boyfriend, then says "I don't know, but they're not escaping from us! We'll hunt them down and deal with them!"

"Suwako, I love that woman," says the boy as if in a trance, while the black mouse just looks back and forth between the two love birds.

Ichirin, Unzan, Nue and Nazrin enter the temple, then the winded gray mouse exclaims "puh-please! Help Master!"

The party of four regroup, then quickly head toward the inner parts of the temple, where the rooms are.

They are only just entering the corridors when they hear Byakuren screaming with exhaustion, and Minamitsu yelling "Hijiri! You will NOT TAKE HER!"

Surprisingly enough, Aerith takes the lead and starts winding her staff above her head, then swings it before the Red Nocturne even appears before the party, harming it greatly.

After another quick swing from her staff, the Heartless becomes black dust, and the party arrives to the surprisingly large room of the tiger youkai.

Shou Toramaru, whom has short yellowy-orange hair with black stripes, golden yellow eyes, and wears a burgundy dress with orange on the bottom, a tiger-pattern band around the waist, and long white sleeves, moans and wails as she tries to get off her futon to help her friends with the Heartless.

Minamitsu Murasa, whom has short black hair, teal eyes, a wears a white sailor dress with teal lines on all the borders and the collar, a red neckerchief, and is wielding a giant anchor on the right hand and a broken ladle on the left, is trying to strike a Blue Rhapsody with bullets or said anchor, but she's exhausted and missing miserably.

Byakuren Hijiri looks far more exhausted, panting hard as she works hard to keep on her wobbly legs, while shooting random beams and purple bullet showers on the Red Nocturnes that get too close to Shou.

She has long wavy brown hair that fades to purple at the top, hazel eyes, and wears a purple and white turtleneck dress with black strips of fabric crossing her chest and plexus, white strips of fabric crossing around her arms, and she's holding a blue magical scroll-like object she appears to be trying to read, to no avail.

Her black cape with red lining is currently on top of Shou, and seems to be forming a barrier that's keeping the tiger youkai safe from outside and inside sources, but it's draining the magician monk while it's active.

Ail has seen enough, and he and Mickey rush into the room, and are intercepted by a hidden group of Nocturnes and Rhapsodies.

Both warriors summon their Keyblades, Aerith casts a Haste spell on her allies, and Sanae attacks first, smacking a few of those Heartless on the face with several of her charms and talismans.

The Keyblade wielders manage to strike three of the monsters with one swing of their weapons, but it's taking them four to five hits to release the captured hearts.

Already feeling overwhelmed, Mickey says "Ail, we can't keep wastin' time! Those girls are about to drop, and at this rate they will lose their hearts!"

Dealing the final blow on another Blue Rhapsody, the dense boy smacks his own head three times, then says "I know! I know! Sanae-chan, Miss Aerith, can't you cast that spell again?"

"It's too cramped in here, sweetie," grunts the shrine maiden while finishing off a few Red Nocturnes with her small white stars. "We would only end up hurting everyone in here!"

"**ARGH!**"

"LADY HIJIRI!"

After hearing Byakuren's scream and Minamitsu's desperate call, Ail's blood limit automatically activates, he claps his hands and summons a second Keyblade of light, then easily opens a path to the temple girls through the Heartless.

"Sanae, Mickey, Aerith, GO! I'll take care of these!"

The hesitant trio nod, run through the opening the dense boy made, then make their way to the girls.

The pink-clad girl quickly rushes over to Byakuren and erects a magical barrier on her, the black mouse jumps in front of Minamitsu and declares "Thunder Sign, Thundara!" causing yellow bolts of lightning to rain down on the Heartless, then Sanae rushes through the monsters, swinging her gohei at their heads and finishing most off.

Thanks to their combined efforts, almost all the Heartless have their hearts released, and now the shrine maiden has two Blue Rhapsodies and a Red Nocturne left.

She grins when noticing how these creatures seem to be avoiding getting too close to her, looks back at the others, and commands "stay back. I'll handle these."

She takes two steps forward, lifts a spell card, and declares "Esoterica, Grey Thaumaturgy!"

Sanae rises three feet in the air, white stars appear at five points around her, shaping what looks to be a star around the girl, then the small stars fly toward the cowardly Heartless.

Her spell quickly releases the little monsters' hearts, at the same time Ail releases the hearts of the remaining Heartless on his side of the large room, and just like that, it is all clear.

Everyone looks around, breathing hard as they do so, wondering if any more monsters will come, then Byakuren weakly declares "finally. Shou... Shou is safe-unh!"

"HIJIRI!" desperately calls Captain Murasa, running to and grabbing hold of the woman before she falls face-first on the floor.

* * *

Hours later, after Ail and Aerith finish healing the temple girls, including Shou, whom finally falls asleep after the healing, the peace they all thought would return refuses to remain.

Byakuren punches the floor between herself and Ail, and furiously says "I'm losing my patience with you! How can she be the source you precious signal when she's bedridden like that! ? No, I'm NOT letting you take her just because you're suspicious!"

The boy glares at the monk, rubs the bridge of his nose, points at the sleeping tiger youkai behind her, and exclaims "I already told you, the signal is coming from her! SHE has something that's keeping Reimu trapped, whether by her own knowledge, or not! You know how she can be sometimes! She could have picked something up and it activated with her touch! I'll just gap her to the shrine and see. It will only take a **second!**"

The gradient haired woman refuses to move aside, blocking Ail from reaching Shou, and for the first time in a thousand years, she looks irritated beyond her usual standards, and ready to attack at any given chance.

She slams the floor with her hand, this time expelling a bit of magic as a warning to the boy, and dangerously says "I won't hear this anymore, Anilan Inmodo! You are just _obsessed_ over your failed duties, and I won't let you put Shou in danger because of it! Now, get out of this temple right now, before I _really_ lose my temper!"

Both eyes meet, and their auras can be felt all the way over to the prayer room; this disturbance causes the tiger youkai to moan weakly and try to speak, but can only mumble softly in her sleep.

Ail's party and the temple girls are at a loss as of what to do, knowing well that if things keep going as they are, a bloody fight between friends is going to break out, however, as if some miracle, a voice of reason defuses the tense situation quickly.

"If I may," begins Patchouli, her voice coming clearly from the emblem, "Ail, Byakuren, why don't you place the emblem on her forehead. If she really is the source of the signal, the emblem itself will react to her, but if not, it should just simply sit on her head."

The boy and magician stare at each other for a little while longer, their tension slowly diminishes, then finally the woman sighs and says "fine, but if something happens to her, I will take immediate action."

The dense boy seems to ignore her as he crawls slowly toward the tiger youkai, takes the emblem off his belt, gently places it on the girl's forehead, and stares intensely.

In truth, he doesn't want to have to fight a dear friend like Byakuren, and even less learn that Shou has somehow helped in sealing, and in keeping Reimu sealed like that, but he has to know, and if his tiger youkai friend is keeping the maiden sealed somehow, he hopes she'll help them without resisting in any way.

After a few seconds pass and the emblem remains motionless on the girl's forehead, Patchouli says "she's clean, though her heart is a bit fractured. She definitely needs rest and care."

This causes Byakuren to cheer "YES! I knew my Shou wasn't bad," and Ail to sigh his relief loudly, and quickly say "you were right! I'm so sorry. You were right. I'm so relieved!"

The magician monk looks surprised as the boy holds his chest and quickly removes the emblem from Shou's forehead, and quickly realizes all that's been going through his mind.

She immediately holds him in a hug, making Sanae twitch a little out of jealousy, and says "I'm sorry Ail. I didn't know. I'm just so worried about Shou. Those monsters hurt her right before my eyes, and I feel responsible for this."

The boy returns the hug and says "no, I'm sorry. You're right, I'm just upset over Reimu. I was supposed to protect her, and now I can't find what's holding her imprisoned. I almost took my frustrations out on you. I'm sorry."

Ail suddenly stresses up, pushes Byakuren away, rushes straight for Shou, then Minamitsu demands "what the hell's the matter with you? Leave her alone already!"

"Ail, what's wrong now?" asks the upset Byakuren. "Let Shou rest!"

He ignores the threats and the energy-covered fingers aimed at himself, grabs the moaning god's representative, pulls her right out of the futon, then jumps away toward the other end of the room.

At the very moment he pulls her away, a dark humanoid monster breaks through the floor, breaking a hole on it and the futon, where Shou's head was, with its teeth, but after realizing it missed its intended target, it roars.

"Who the hell is that! ?" demands Minamitsu as she prepares her anchor. "Whomever you are, you sure picked the wrong time to pick a fight!"

She brandishes her anchor, readies her sacred ladle, but that's when Byakuren, whom now holds the weak tiger girl on her hands, gets in the way of the captain, and whispers "don't. She's the one."

The confused ship ghost youkai looks over the woman's shoulder, and can see Ail and his party facing the new threat that tried taking the tiger youkai's head.

The dense boy and his girlfriend tense up as the figure reveals herself, then said boy asks "Kimi Hong? What in the world happened to you?"

The shadow dragon's skin looks scaly and green, her face has a mixture of a human's and dragon's face mixed, her left eye has a purple flame, instead of the usual white, and her tail, which shouldn't be exposed at all, has a purple glow on its tip.

Her clothes are a mess, it looks as though she hasn't eaten in months, and although she seems to be speaking, all she does is roar and grunt repeatedly.

She looks to Ail, holds her head and roars to the ceiling, and in the blink of an eye, she's sliding to a stop in front of the party, and viciously swings her tail, hitting all on the ribs, and the dense boy on the cheek.

Before they have even fallen, she moves toward Ail and punches him on the stomach, swings her tail again and strikes him on the ribs, then grabs him by the neck and gurgles in his ears "run. Get help," then throws him face-first on the floor, restraining herself from pushing his face through it.

As soon as he bounces off the ground, the humanoid dragon kicks him away, then gets her neck gripped tight by Byakuren, who shouts "LEAVE HIM ALONE!", before throwing the monster girl away.

"Byakuren-san," grunts the dense boy as he tries to get up while rubbing his neck and nose.

"All of you, get up and keep those eyes peeled! Mickey, Ail, keep Sanae and Aerith away from the dragon's reach, you understand?"

The party manages to stand, the boy and the king take the front as they nod to Byakuren, and the dense one activates his blood limit, just as Kimi begins her next attack.

"WHOA!" yelps Mickey after blocking her sudden bite attack, then shouts "she's too fast! We won't be able to defeat her like this!"

"I'll cast another Haste spell on you, just hol-"

"DON'T," quickly commands Ail. He grunts when he deflects a very sudden claw swipe from the right, then Byakuren kicks the humanoid girl away, before she manages to get away from them.

He looks back at the girl and says "she's gonna run away. Get ready to fly. Sanae, Mickey, Aerith, when I give the signal, hold on to my hands."

Though the magician monk is busy matching blinding-fast punches and kicks as if it were mere child's play, it's clear she's straining herself when she speaks through her teeth "Ail, no! You need me! You can't defeat her as you are! Don't follow after her!"

Kimi jumps away from Byakuren, shrieks a roar that forces all present to cover their ears, then screams "RUN *pant* AWAY~!"

She breaks a hole on the wall to the outside, then Ail barks "NOW! GO!", stretches out his arms so that everyone grabs hold, then flies insanely fast toward the shadow dragon.

"NO! AIL, DON'T! SHE WILL KILL YOU!" screams the Youkhrist from the temple, and thinks of going after them, but a moan from Shou makes her thinks otherwise, so she looks from inside while biting her thumb, and says to herself "darn it! I hope they're ok!"

Outside, Ail reaches Kimi's tail the very moment she turns into a snake dragon.

He and Sanae can see the purple crystal on the tip of her tail and want nothing more than to grab it and end their troubles, but the dragon roars and speeds up, forcing them to hold on to her, then they all disappear from the sky after a blinding flash.

* * *

Kimi and her 'stowaways' arrive to the Garden of the Sun, an usually peaceful, but highly dangerous place filled to the borders with large sunflowers and a few other varieties of flowers, and a simple, yet large house with a green roof, rose walls and white frames, that belongs to Yuka Kazami.

The group hold on to the shadow dragon's tail as tightly as they can, but after another deafening roar from the shadow monster, they all finds themselves falling to a bed of sunflowers after Kimi turns back to her misshapen humanoid form.

She roars at them all, shoots massive fireballs the size of her body at an alarmingly fast rate, then holds her head, struggles with herself, and grunts "guh... get... go away. RUNAWAY!"

The party below scream as they jump around to avoid the rain of fire, then Sanae looks up when the shower stops, and declares "she's distracted! Attack now!"

Ail shoots white orbs, Sanae shoots pink charms, Aerith surprises herself when she shoots little icicles in overwhelming numbers when trying a simple Blizzard spell, and Mickey aims his Star Seeker and shoots sparks of lightning when he tries a Thunder spell.

Kimi is hit by the first barrage of bullets, but quickly recovers herself and attacks, managing to break some bullets with her own fireballs, and then the fight stops when everyone looks to the background, after noticing an interesting event is taking place.

All the way to the left of the battle is the flower youkai, Yuka Kazami, whom has shoulder-length green hair, red eyes, and is wearing a sleeveless white shirt under a sleeveless red plaid vest, a matching red plaid skirt, a pair of brown cross-laced boots, and is holding a pink parasol she's currently waving around furiously.

She's currently running after something, smiling that deceivingly wicked smile of hers, and even though she's slow, she is able to keep up with Mickey's Gummy Ship, which is currently flying close to the ground, and is pushing the flowers down as it flies through.

In front of the ship are Tenshi, some angels, and crying out loud while being dragged by the celestial, is Iku, who complains "why do you keep dragging me around for this? It's after you, not me!"

"Just shut up and RUN," barks the celestial, to which the oarfish youkai cries "but you're dragging me around, so I CAN'T!"

"Stop running from me so that I can TEACH YOU SOME PROPER MANNERS, you MURDERER!" screams the furious Yuka as she, to everyone's surprise, gets closer to reaching the ship.

Ail and Sanae quickly regain their focus, and quickly notice how Kimi is completely distracted by the hilarious scene before her, even though she shows no emotions toward it.

"Sweetie, focus you holy powers on my arm," whispers the boy, to which the girl nods to and starts rubbing his forearm while playfully whispering "this should help you relax too."

By now , Mickey and Aerith notice those two are at it again, but quickly take notice it's not just for fun or show.

Ail's Keyblade of light starts glowing brighter with every rub from Sanae, and with a pink face, he smiles and whispers "ready," then, as soon as she lets him go, he flies up to the shadow dragon humanoid.

Kimi can feel an odd sensation on her lower back, but doesn't seem too bothered, even though that by the time she turns around, Ail has cut her tail off, freeing the crystal from her.

Obviously not feeling any pain, the girl looks as her tail falls to the ground below, but as soon as the realization hits her, her face twists with a dangerous frown, and she grabs Ail's leg in an instant, roars as she swings him above her head, then throws him hard to the ground.

The boy crashes face-first between Mickey and Aerith, Sanae rushes to him, calling out to him with worry, then the shadow dragon girl begins to roar, which slowly becomes an ear-piercing shriek.

Everyone looks up and end up covering their ears to try and block that ear-breaking screech.

Kimi's scales slowly begin to suck themselves into her skin, her light-orange hair grows a bit, and the wound where her tail was disappears entirely.

At the same time, her tail has stopped in mid air, and the tip of it seems to be facing its former owner as it slowly floats back up to her.

The girl holds her head and seems to struggle with herself in mid-air, screaming, crying and grunting as she squeezes her temples, and with tears in her eyes, she speaks through pants.

"Guh! Help-get... HELP! I'm. can't. controls! It... hurts, but. Kali! Too STROOOOOOONG! *Pant-pant* You'll. have... to... Ha-Hakure-Reimu!"

Everyone waits for the girl to say more, then Ail impatiently asks "to what? Kimi, what's happening to you? What about Reimu! ?"

The tail suddenly thrusts itself through the dragon girl's neck, choking her and making her gag in her desperate attempt to grab it and pull it off herself, but it simply slides down on its own, the purple crystal floats in the center of the hole left behind, then that wound closes up faster than naturally possible.

Kimi suddenly smiles viciously, then launches herself at the group, striking the ground between the boys and the girls, and spreading them apart before any one of them realizes what happened.

After rolling a bit on the ground, Aerith and Sanae manage to get off the ground, look around, then the brown haired girl asks "wh-what just happen? Ail, Mickey?"

"Ail-kun?" worriedly calls the shrine maiden. "**AAAAAARGH!**"

Sanae's scream forces Ail out of his daze, and as he desperately looks around, he calls "SANAE! SANAE-CHAN, WHAT HAPPENED! ? SANA-ACK!"

His answer comes when his girlfriend's own show strikes him from behind at the back of his neck, and Mickey loudly says "they got run over by the gummy ship!"

When the dense one looks up, he can see Tenshi and Iku, along with the few angels forcefully flying all the way back to Heaven, while a little closer to the ground, Sanae and Aerith are stuck on the front of the Gummy Ship, while Yuka climbs its cockpit, and forces it open with a flick of her parasol on the edge of the glass dome.

"Ha! You can't beat the mighty Yuka. Now get ready to pay for your crimes," declares the flower youkai as she enters the cockpit, and somehow shrinks after getting inside.

* * *

The girls grunt as they struggle to climb that ship, and when Yuka sees them, she raises an eyebrow and asks "eh? You two have come to teach this thing a lesson too? Please wait for your turn~ I have dibs on the first few whacks."

The girls ignore the murderous woman and continue struggling against the air pressure as they climb to the cockpit, and after getting splat against the seemingly small control room, Sanae loudly says "you go inside first, before this air pressure kills you!"

Aerith seems to be having a very hard time breathing, and her face is turning blue, and even so, she hesitates to nod when thinking the green haired girl is also having trouble breathing, but when she sees how well the girl is, she continues moving to their destination.

Once inside she coughs as her lungs fill with oxygen again, and after recovering herself, she looks around the surprisingly large room and says "my, this ship is a lot bigger inside."

Her attention turns to the sounds of banging to the right, where Yuka is striking the incredibly sturdy ship's insides with her parasol while saying "oh yes, I was rather **surprised** as well, but I'm too **busy** teaching this contraption about **respect** to the flowers!"

Sanae screams as she falls inside the cockpit, and as soon as she falls sprawled on the floor inside, the hatch closes, and the shrine maiden asks "where did this thing grow nets from?"

She gets up with help from Aerith, rubs the side of her head, then notices Yuka happily smacking the ship's controls, and says "hey, stop doing that! You don't know what the king's ship will do if you damage it!"

The flower master stops her beating, looks back at the shrine maiden, then asks "this is the ship of a king?"

She looks around her surroundings, whistles with admiration, then says "well wha'd you know? I'm teaching royalty some manners."

Sanae walks over to Yuka, smiles while chuckling nervously, then rests her hand on the control panel while saying "y-yes, that's right. But since it's royalty, why don't you *bleep* Huh?"

"Oh dear... Now you've done it," sighs Aerith with a cute and desperate look about her.

Without knowing, the green haired maiden has pressed the warp button, and so the ship begins to do as commanded, and flies away to the sky at warp speed.

From outside, Ail and Mickey watch, unable to do anything else for the girls at the time, and then the ship seems to stretch itself for a bit, before turning into a bright star in the sky.

"S-San... Sanae?" says Ail as though in a trance as he helplessly watches his girlfriend disappearing in the sky.

"**Sanaeeeeeeeeee**!"

Mickey grabs hold of the boy before he foolishly tries to fly toward the long-gone ship, and shouts "no, Ail, it's gone! They activated the warp block! They could be anywhere right now!"

The desperate king looks back, gasps, then says "Kimi! Ail' it's Kim-UGH!"

The possessed shadow girl has caught both human and black mouse by the back of their necks, lifts them both off the floor with ease, and while looking at them with a blank stare, she softly says "you... should have... r-run. Too... la-... Late now."

Before either have the chance to fight back, Kimi turns into a dragon and threatens to crush the boys between her massive claws, and with a thundering voice she says "must. obey. Kali's. comm-ands!"

Tenshi and Iku watch from the distance as the dragon's massive body glows eerily violet, how that glow slowly consumes the unconscious warriors, and in the blink of an eye, everyone disappears.

The celestial looks at her friend, then asks "Iku, what the heck just happen?"

The oarfish youkai shrugs and shakes her head, then says "I don't know, Eldest Daughter. Maybe we should just leave, before something else happens?"

Tenshi shakes her head, gulps, and says "th-the pointy flying thing is gone, and that dragon thing took Ail. We should investigate and learn what's happening here."

Iku stares at the blue haired girl for a bit, wondering if the celestial got hit too hard on the head, or is just crazy.

Meanwhile, Kimi appears at the edge of a dark beach where black rocks ooze a purple-blue substance, and the sand looks black, purple and grey.

She drops Mickey and Ail at the edge of the water, flies in circles above her head, and says "safe. You are. s-safe. Must. save. all.. Kali is bad. HELP ME!"

She suddenly disappears, roaring before vanishing from the dark skies, leaving the two Keyblade wielders trapped in the World of Darkness.

* * *

**LATE NOON**

At the Hakurei Shrine's living quarters, while Mima and Patchouli are exploring their emblem, Cirno and Rumia suddenly rise from the floor and look to the sky above the tree on the left side of the shrine.

Wriggle, Mystia and Daiyousei look up at the ice fair and darkness youkai, but before the question is asked, Patchouli nervously says "something's wrong here. It's like Ail's emblem is gone. I can't seem to feel it anymore. Kyo won't like this."

She suddenly gasps, mutters "that idiot," then shouts "No, Kyo! You almost had her! What happened! ? Yumeda!"

"Guys, get ready!" suddenly commands Cirno as she takes her watermelon sword on hand and getting everyone's attention. "Here they come!"

The girls all spring on their feet and ready their weapons, though look rather unwilling to fight yet again, Mima prepares her staff and powers herself up, and just seconds after getting ready, Large Bodies, Fluttering Furies already joined with Air Shadows, and an Opposite Armor appear from those swirling black vortexes at the back of the shrine.

Even Patchouli grimaces at the sight before them, though nobody does as funny as Cirno, whom is bearing her gums from the fright.

She recovers quickly and puts on a brave face, looks back at the other girls, showing them her bravery and resignation to whatever fate may befall on them, then rushes out, screaming "CHAAAAAAAAAAARGE!"

"Perfect FREEZE!", she screams as soon as she's in range, freezing all the monsters at once, and taking out five of the joined Heartless on the sky.

Though her surprise attack does give the others the advantage of surprise, the defeated Large Bodies, Furies and Air Shadows seem to come back almost immediately after turning to black dust, and not only that, but the Opposite Armor is angry at the girls, and is swinging it's clamps and claws all around itself.

Cirno, Rumia and Mystia yelp after being swatted away by a clamp just before Mima's lasers shower down on the monsters, then Daiyousei flips around with her staff wielded with deadly force, and Wriggle it having a very hard time taking down a single Fluttering Fury and Air Shadow combo.

Cirno & Rumia push themselves back into the fight, while Mystia goes to assist Wriggle, Mima casts a lightning spell that mimics the one used by Donald, then earth pikes fly out of nowhere, and strike some Large Bodies on the head, finishing them off, and the Opposite Armor's left claw, knocking it down.

The green haired woman looks to the shrine's front, finds Renko preparing more pikes, as well as several joined Heartless behind the human girl, and shouts "behind you!"

The girl quickly turns around and deals with the monsters, while the spirit woman shouts "these things are too strong! Girls, give it your all and more! Patchouli, we need assistance!"

"I can't contact Ail or Mickey, and the others are all busy, remember?" quickly shouts the magician from inside the shrine.

"We'll just have to hit them harder," shouts Cirno, getting a cheer from the youkai girls and Renko, before spinning around like King Mickey and striking several joined monsters repeatedly, until another five become black dust.

The ice fairy suddenly stops attacking when she hears her friends grunting and struggling hard, and when she looks down, Wriggle calls "CIRNOOO, we need HELP!"

The little blue haired fairy quickly dives down and smashes the head of one of the large Heartless that was swinging its arms at Rumia and Mystia.

Meanwhile, Daiyousei demonstrates amazing agility and skill while wielding her staff and protecting Renko, who exclaims "wow, I'm very impressed! For a fairy, you are quite skillful and strong!"

The green-haired fairy stops with her back turned in front of the human, glares around, panting to catch her breath, then looks back with a smile and says "thanks. I didn't know I had this much in me. I'm still not as strong as Cirno, though."

The mentioned fairy groans as she flies past the two girls, then Renko says "uh-oh! That big Heartless is mad!"

Cirno stands back on her feet, rubs her head a bit, and looks to the Opposite Armor with red eyes, chuckles, and says "so, you don't like ice in your mouth, huh! ?"

The little fairy quickly takes off to the sky, flies above the large armored Heartless, then pulls a wing off her back and shapes it into a sword, and grins while saying "this will damage it nicely."

She dive-bombs straight at the monster, then gasps with surprise when many blue orbs touch her ice sword and make it grow several sizes larger.

Mima looks at Patchouli's raised hand with disbelief, and sarcastically asks "are you sure that's enough?", to which the purple-themed girl smiles and replies "it should be."

Rumia grabs Mystia and Wriggle, and quickly jumps toward the shrine, and mere seconds later, Cirno crash lands on top of the Opposite Armor's torso, making it diappear, and as that massive sword touches the ground, the ice appears to inflate, the ice fairy flies away, then her sword explodes.

Most of the Heartless nearby become black dust, and now, after the sky clears of all ice cubes and light sparks, Mima and Rumia whistle at the same time, and say "**that was impressive.**"

Patchouli chuckles, but before she speaks, her small smile becomes a visible frown, and with frustration in her tone, she exclaims "what the heck is-? That thing is still alive!"

Mystia points up, and says "and so are those!"

The sky is still filled with Fluttering Furies riding Air Shadows, some Large Bodies pop out of other vortexes, and though the opposite armor lacks its torso, it's claws, clamps and head are still active, and it roars at the girls, causing Wriggle and Mystia to yelp and fall to the ground out of the sheer force of that roar.

"Protect Mystia and Wriggle!", commands Daiyousei as she and Renko run in front of the shrine, then Cirno lands in front of the girls, snarls at the monster, takes her sword on hand before it touches the ground, then roars as she runs straight at the large round head.

Mima takes the emblem from the table and desperately calls "Ail, Mickey, can you hear me? Sanae? Aerith? Anyone? DAMMIT!"

She slams the emblem hard against the wooden table and mutters several curses under her breath as she runs back outside, then says "not one of these monsters gets inside this shrine, you understand! ?"

The girls all nod, Wriggle and Mystia stand back up, then all, including Mima and Patchouli, rush straight toward the multitude of monsters.

* * *

"Freeze Sign, Minus K!", declares Cirno as she rushes toward the Large Bodies, shooting large orbs of ice that quickly burst into countless icicles that explode into snowflakes upon touching a target.

This alone strikes half of the army of Heartless invading the shrine, and thanks to this, even Mystia is taking down monsters with one swing from her claws.

Rumia is having fun with the dark fairies on black crows by cutting their heads off with her black short sword, and punching their faces in whenever given the chance.

As soon as Cirno's spell cancels out, and more than half of the group of Heartless is weakened, Mima, Patchouli and Renko combine their powers on a single earth spell, and all simultaneously declare "**Earth Sign, Rising Pillars!**"

As the name implies, three massive pillars made of hardened earth rise from the ground and fly to the sky above the Heartless' heads, and when a few Large Bodies and Fluttering Furies look up, the last thing they see is those pillars coming down on them with great force.

Many of the monsters turn to black dust, but now there are more Large Bodies to deal with, though Mystia and Daiyousei, whom immediately jump the new group of Heartless, don't seem very bothered by this, and beat and tear the living daylights of those round monsters.

Unknown to the others, Wriggle has lured the four remaining pieces of the Opposite Armor near the lake behind the shrine, and is currently beating its clamps into submission, winning the fight with ease.

"And once I'm done with **THIS**", the left clamp explodes upon the bug youkai's baton strikes, then she continues, "I am going to go back there, and show everyone how strong I _really_ am!"

She looks between the trees and sees how her friends struggle against the many Heartless, then quickly resumes her fight with the monster's claw, blocking its sudden thrust and stunning it before going over to combo it, and says "I better finish you off now! The others need my help, and with you out of the way, things will be much easier."

Wriggle continues beating the claws until it makes a popping sound, then quickly hops to work on the renewed claw, seemingly forgetting this one had been destroyed before, and that there is one remaining claw-like clamp, and the round armored head, which looms above her, staring at her with those glowing red eyes.

She raises her baton to begin the beating, then the clamp grabs her from behind and holds her tight, making her scream out loud as it attempts to break her in half.

She can hear Cirno and Mystia calling for her, but she can't reply. Her ribs have been crushed, though it's nothing she can't recover from in a few hours.

The monster's head comes down to meet her weakened eyes, its own eyes glow with intensity as it looks on the little bug girl, then throws her away, back to the shrine, right next to the heated battle.

The girls call for Wriggle, but all of them are stuck fighting more Fluttering Furies, Air Shadows, Large Bodies, and now a few Soldiers have joined the Heartless ranks, and are giving their all and more just to keep those monsters from reaching Reimu.

"WRIGGLE! GET UP!" calls Rumia, her voice making the bug youkai react in time to roll away from that claw she couldn't destroy.

She holds her ribs when the pain hits her, then she gasps with fright when that monster reveals its torso once more, reappearing under the head as if it were always there.

At that very moment, Wriggle seems to fall in some sort of trance, and can only gasp and whimper as she looks into that monster's eyes.

Her body begins to shiver, her eyes lose their focus and their light, and all she can do now is open her mouth and choke softly on her own tongue.

Cirno and the others notice something is wrong, and try hard to break through to help their friend, the ice fairy going as far as smashing her watermelon sword against a Large Body so hard, it breaks in half.

She doesn't care about the sword and tosses it away, replacing her swinging with the shooting countless icicles, but even so, more Heartless get in her way sooner than she can finish them off.

Finally she breaks an opening after turning a Large Body and a Soldier into black dust, then all her hopes fade.

Wriggle is still sitting on the ground, looking at her friends and smiling emptily, and though no sound comes from her, the ice fairy can understand when her bug friend mouths the words 'continue forward'.

Cirno screams as she watches Wriggle's heart slowly leaving her body and flying into a dark vortex, then feels a pain in her chest when she watches her friend's body hit the ground with a strong thud.

At that very moment, Mima screams "oh no, REIMU!", then she and Patchouli abandon the fight to cast a spell on the purple prison, which seems to be vibrating and humming loudly.

A mere second later, the sprouting crystal on the top-right corner cracks and explodes, then Patchouli shouts "stabilize her heartbeats! Let me work on the fissure!"

The main crystal also cracks a bit, but some of those cracks head straight for Reimu's heart, and even in her crystallized state, tears of pain start rolling down the shrine maiden's eyes, filling the magicians with despair.

Cirno looks back and forth between Reimu and Wriggle as the Heartless stop attacking, time seems to slow down for her and her team, and slowly, but surely, what very little remained of the day soon gives way to the darkness of night, and all hope fades along with it.

The ice fairy sighs, her wings begin to glow, illuminating a great deal of the shrine's grounds, she grabs one of her wings, then lifts it chest-high.

It quickly takes the shape of a simple, yet sharp-looking Keyblade with a white cushioned grip, sharp teeth make the weapon's hand guard, the short shaft looks like a rough icicle with a pointed end, and the teeth at the end look like the ice fairy's own wings.

* * *

"Cirno," softly calls Daiyousei.

The ice fairy's answer is a furious roar, and now she goes after the Heartless that seem to be wanting to run away, yet it appears they are unable to do so.

She strikes a Large Body on the head, and in one hit she releases the captured heart, then suddenly swings left, right, spins, and after she's done, a total of seven hearts are released.

A Soldier and a joined Fury and Air Shadow silently sneak behind the dangerous ice fairy, and are struck from behind by a black sword with a glowing red light, their hearts released from a mere swing from said weapon.

Cirno looks back at Rumia, whom looks rather upset as she looks at the Heartless, and without looking at the little fairy, she says "take them all down!"

"Moon Sign, Silent Selene!" shouts Patchouli from behind the stunned Mystia, Daiyousei and Renko, causing a beam to fall from a magical moon onto the annoying monsters that keep trying to fight back, yet the beam won't harm the fairy or darkness youkai.

Mima runs toward the Opposite Armor, and commands "stop staring like a couple of idiots and help me here!"

Daiyousei, Mystia and Renko shake their shocked heads, knowing well that was aimed at them, then the two youkai quickly rush to help the Supposedly-Evil spirit, while Patchouli and the brown haired human assist Cirno and Rumia with spells for buffs for their friends, or attack on the Heartless.

While Daiyousei and Mystia take the remaining claw and clamp, Mima focuses her energy onto a glowing spell card, then declares "Magic Sign, Stardust Reverie!"

Mystia delivers the last blow to the clamp, making it pop loudly, Daiyousei sends the claw crashing against the torso of the monster after a full body swing with her staff, making it explode on contact, then both girls run away just in time to avoid Mima's star cluster, and the monster's body cannon beam.

The two spells clash in mid-air, and now it has become a contest of wills.

Even though she's concentrating hard, the spirit woman loudly commands "get that girl's body out of there! Get her inside!"

The fairy and night sparrow quickly move to get Wriggle's body, and seeing as there is no resistance, they manage to take their friend inside the shrine in record time.

Meanwhile, Renko and Patchouli find themselves feeling a little useless, as Cirno and Rumia spin and jump around and take one Heartless after another with one or two strikes from their weapons, releasing their hearts as fast as King Mickey would.

The Large Bodies still pose a bit of a problem, as their bellies still bounce all attacks back with ease, but for the ice fairy, they are dealt with by a quick icicle to the gut or face, while the darkness youkai simply uses the recoil to strike another monster, before coming back to finish the big oaf.

After that last Large Body is gone, the girls realize there aren't any more Heartless left, save for one.

Cirno and Rumia are both exhausted, catching their breath is a chore right now, their faces are all hot and red from overexerting themselves, but all of that seems to fade when they glare at the one monster they are eager to eradicate.

Mima screams when the recoil from the explosion of both attacks sends her flying back inside the shrine by force, then the ice fairy and darkness youkai hastily rush toward the monster, roaring as they do.

What's left of the Opposite Armor looks to the girls and tries shooting a large dark orb at them, but Cirno easily deflects that with her Keyblade, allowing Rumia to get closer to it and cut its head in half with her sword.

The ice fairy is now above the monster with her new weapon raised high above her head, roaring as she pushes herself down, cutting the monster's remains in half, and after the Heartless' body glows, the massive heart is released, and the creature becomes black dust.

The two girls let themselves fall to the ground, panting with exhaustion, and laughing after a job well done, but the pain of loss in their eyes betrays their laughter.

Patchouli suddenly gasps, then says "we better contact the others! Let them know what's going on and call them all back! We can't keep up like this, and Mickey and Ail still won't answer!"

She hovers fast into the shrine, calling for Mima, while Renko walks over to Cirno and Rumia, eager to congratulate them for a job well done.

She places a hand on their backs, kneels between the two girls, then softly says "come on, let's get inside.

* * *

**LATE EVENING**

Donald arrives to the front of the shrine like a luminous ball of light that spreads on the stone pathway in front of the stairs to the donation box.

Immediately besides him is Marisa, whom remains on her hands and knees and refuses to look up.

Behind them are Star and Sunny shaking Luna's limp body and calling out to their little friend, until they notice they are back on familiar grounds and start looking around, though not leaving their fallen friend's side.

To the magician's right are Alice and Hourai, both holding to Shanghai's body as they look around, while the youkai girl asks "wait, why are we here? How did you do that?"

The humanoid duck looks back at Alice, and sounding a bit tired, he says "it's really complicated, but I can explain later."

"Later is good," says Patchouli as she, Mima, Renko, Rumia and Cirno rush over to the newly arrived group.

The purple haired magician walks over to Marisa and Donald, places her hand on both their shoulders; the duck getting pink cheeks out of this gesture; and softly, yet coldly says "you did a good job, now just relax. Marisa, stop your whining. You did all you could, but that's all gone now. I need you to focus on right now!"

Mima approaches her former apprentice, pulls her up to her feet by her shoulders, and reveals the dazed and hungry face of a pale blonde that's just BEGGING for food.

With a giggle, the evil spirit says "she's fine you two, she's just famished. Come, let's go inside and- Oh dear."

All heads turn to Cirno, Star and Sunny, and hearts start to feel heavy all around.

For everyone, particularly the residents of Gensokyo, seeing fairies so depressed is enough to bring down the mood to even the most cheerful of persons.

Rumia walks away from Alice toward the fairies, and says "come on, don't just stand there. Let's get her to a futon! Really, what kind of stupid friends are you? She'll catch a cold!"

Cirno rapidly lifts her fists to the air, and along Star and Sunny, they all complain to the darkness blonde for her harsh words, but all she does is stick her tongue out at them and giggle as she takes Luna's body with her.

Alice and Hourai ignore this and look to Patchouli as the former slowly raises her voice while asking "so what exactly is going on? How is Reimu? And what happened to Shanghai? Why is she like this? Why does she seem to be both dead and alive?"

The purple haired girl lifts a hand, gestures her magician colleague to follow after Mima, and calmly says "let's first head inside, eat something, then I'll try to explain everything I can."

And so, after Luna Child and Shanghai are placed on a futon next to Wriggle, and a hot meal of eels, soup, rice, eggs and tea made and served by Mystia and Daiyousei is devoured by hungry adventurers, Patchouli and Mima begin discussing things with Alice, Marisa, and Donald.

After pacing for a bit, the purple themed girl looks to Alice, and says "from what I can tell, that crystal had taken hold of Shanghai's heart, and removing it so forcefully caused her heart to be taken into darkness."

"Don't start thinking morbidly, you fool," quickly begins the spirit. "Like Wriggle, Luna and Keine, as well as the many fairies and people that have had their hearts taken, I am sure we can get their hearts back."

Alice looks with disbelief at the green haired woman, and asks "and how can you be so sure about that? Have you experienced something like this before?"

"Oh, my, of course not. Well, not that I can remember," casually admits the woman with a silly smile on her face, then points outside and says "but _that_ seems to be a clear indication that my theory is right on the money."

The girls on the table all turn to look to the open sliding doors, and surprise quickly takes them.

Cirno and Hourai, who sits on the fairy's shoulder, and whom happen to be hearing the whole conversation from the shrine's veranda, raise their frowning faces to look to the trees, then brighten up when they start seeing fairies and youkai waking up from their long dark sleep.

The ice fairy and tiny blonde quickly perk up, stand on the tip of their toes, and the blue haired girl exclaims "so we can get Wriggle, and Luna, and Hourai's big sister back! ? Rally! ? What do we have to do?"

The little blonde quickly adds a desperate and shrieking "TELL UUUUUUSS!"

Everyone except Hourai herself has to rub the inside of their ears after such a powerful shriek, then Patchouli says "we can't be too certain about this, but it seems that by releasing captured hearts, you restore the being the heart was stolen from. Again, we are not too sure about it, but seeing those wake up as they have, gives us a good feeling about it."

"And what about the others?" suddenly asks Marisa.

She looks around as though in a daze, looks to Reimu in her crystal prison, notices the middle and left prongs on said crystal still are in place, then asks "what happened to them? Why didn't they get their crystals too?"

Mima sighs, places her fingers on her forehead while thinking on how to word her knowledge, then says "Hunk's team was big, and they would have gotten that crystal, but their opponent was Mokou, and she put up one hell of a fight. She also took Keine's heart right before their very eyes."

Patchouli shakes her head while looking to the floor, and says "we've lost all contact with Ail and Mickey, and although we know they are alive, wherever they are, they are completely out of our reach."

Marisa lightly wraps her arms around herself, as though hugging herself while looking down to the ground, then says "so, splitting up like that was a mistake from the start."

The purple haired girl hums to this, then says "we did get a glimpse of their target, and if I'm not mistaken, Ail said it was Kimi. However, though we could see through the emblems, the images are a bit distorted."

Mima rapidly adds "we'll be working on that for tonight, but you all have to sleep. You've all had a long day, and tomorrow promises to be even longer."

Cirno complains a bit, but quickly complies to rest, and so all the girls quietly make their way to the futons in front of Reimu's crystal and the heartless girls, though Marisa stops her walking, and before she asks, Patchouli says "yes, like with you with Yuffie, Kyo and Ail were met with some particular allies."

Mima chuckles as she gets closer to the blonde, and says "there was Cid, whom was looking for his friends while helping Kyo, and Aerith, quite the charming girl, helped Ail, though she's probably disappeared too. Like Yuffie, Cid appeared and disappeared through means of a dark gassy vortex, same as Aerith, though the latter, again I say, I'm not sure if she's gone too."

Marisa looks away to her futon, then in a low tone of voice, says "not that I care about them, but maybe we should see if we can check on them, ze. And Ail and Mickey; don't worry about them. We'll be seeing them soon. ...I hope."

To this, Mima, Patchouli, Alice and Donald share a confused and shocked stares, but decide to keep their thoughts to themselves.

* * *

**MIDNIGHT**

While the girls all sleep away their weariness all around the Hakurei Shrine's floor, right in front of the trapped Reimu, darkness creeps around them.

"No, if we do that, the light from the sun will blind us," comments Patchouli as she, Mima and surprisingly enough, Alice, work on perfecting the emblem's visual capabilities.

The girls start bickering in low whispers as they argue many pros and cons of augmenting the capabilities of the emblem, and maybe even extending its reach to other worlds, but then Alice raises her voice and all three start hushing each other.

Meanwhile, Renko start turning and tossing under her sheets, grimaces and sweats coldly, and as she starts muttering under her breath, a black, gassy vortex opens up under her, sucking her inside of it and closing up just as Mima notices and shouts "RENKO!"

She, Patchouli and Alice quickly scramble towards where the girl last was, waking up the others as they do.

At that very moment, at Eientei, Maribel wakes up with a jolt and screams "RENKO, NO!"

She starts to cry and calling for Renko, stops when she realizes where she is, and now finds herself surrounded by Reisen, Medicine and Luna Rivers, and breathes hard as she slowly calms herself down.

And so ends the disastrous first day of the hunt for the sources holding Reimu Hakurei imprisoned inside a dark crystal.

* * *

To be continued...

Touhou-Project Shrine Maiden elements belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Kingdom Hearts elements belong to Square Enix and Disney Interactive

Other elements belong to their respective owners.

Original Spell Cards by Willie G.R. (similarities are coincidental)

Ail, Kyo, Budou, Phredia, Kimi, Kali, and Luna Rivers were created by Willie G.R.

APR 25, 2012

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**And what do you know! Took me a whole darned year to get this ONE DAY finished! Well, that's motivation for you. Sadly, this crossover has gotten very little response (I blame myself for that for taking so damned long to work on it), but as a result, my motivation to work on it has diminished greatly. As you may have noticed, I lessened the details of fights, made them shorter, and honestly will do this for the next chapters, and no, I will not continue with the "Day 1; Day 2" thing, and will now work as I normally would. Well, ok, maybe I'll let you know it's Day 2, but won't emphasize on it too much. Anyways, the other reason I am doing this is to hurry up with this, cut to the chase, and end it with a glorious bang! GLORIOUS! So don't worry, those-of-you-whom-are-reading-this! I will make sure you STILL enjoy reading through to the end, just don't expect that many chapters, unless my mood and motivation towards this adventure changes.**

**Oh, and I'll make sure there are no more loses to the Heartless. They are getting theirs, and there's nothing they can do about it! FOR GREATER JUSTICE!**

* * *

This Chapter's New Heartless

Poison Plant - I won't lie to you, I don't remember much of this Heartless in the game they appeared. They are stationary, and will shoot unblockable blobs of poison from their mouths, and if you get close to them, they try and hit you with a headbutt. That headbutt bit I didn't remember, so thank you KH's Wikiw "The Keyhole".

Bookmaster - These little nuisances will fly around in their books, which are the Akashik Records, and will attack with elemental magic from afar. Not only that, they absorb elemental magical attacks, but spells like Magnet and Reflect work well on them. Though physically weak, if you get close to them, they swirl the book around themselves, pushing you away from it, though sometimes it won't. Oh, and if you manage to guard against their projectile attacks in time, you can bounce those back at them, making their defeat easier. I personally prefer beating them all to a pulp, though.

Fortuneteller - These seemingly lovely ladies won't read your fortune, so beat them quickly. They fly around, shooting ice crystals, swinging their crystal balls in an eight shape, and they have this annoying attack that, after three seconds, your character gets trapped in ice for a bit. They are still surprisingly easy to deal with.

Boss Heartless - Grim Reaper - An Aztec-looking Heartless that represents death. Quite the tough boss. In the game "Kingdom Hearts 2" he knocks coins out of the Aztec treasure chest and makes itself an invincible ghoul, changing its shape to something more frightening and ghostly-like. Its scythe swing is quite damaging, but it can be avoided or blocked. Oh, and its real scythe looks more like an Aztec-made treasure, not like what I made it wield here. Sadly, I can't remember more about it. Sorry about that.


	7. Chapter 7

**Day 2 - CRACK OF DAWN**

The hooded woman runs through the Field of the Sun as though her life is depending on it.

She stops, looks around, then takes off again, fast enough to leave two after-images of herself trailing behind.

As she reaches the northern border of the field for the fifth time, a woman's voice inside he head says "_Master, I don't mean to be rude to you, but I still think what you are doing will bear no fruits. If **she** could help, then I'd believe this search would be more worth it._"

The hooded girl summons her Keyblade, jumps and twirls once, strikes various Poison Plants, immediately after landing she slides left and strikes two Soldiers into dust in one hit, then quickly dashes forward, strikes one last Poison Plan, then calls off her Keyblade and starts running again as the released hearts fly to the sky.

As she turns away from the border of the field, she says "you heard what she said. If I can find the trace left behind by the dragon, we'll be able to find out where she took the mouse and br-err, I mean Ail."

She suddenly stops and looks around a path of bent sunflowers that lead to where she just came from, while the voice says "_well, I have confidence in your skill, and I'm sure you'll find their trace, but- Oh, and it seems you found something already._"

The hooded woman nods and says "this trace is not Kimi's. This is something else. Doesn't feel dark, but doesn't seem to be alive either. How strange."

"Hey! You suspicious character over there, what are you doing talking to yourself! ? That's very suspicious!"

The hooded figure turns to face Tenshi, whom holds an uprooted Poison Plant by the stem and points with that very hand at the figure, while Iku stands on her knees, softly saying "the poison... is bad. Oh lords, I'm going to vomit."

The Heartless on the celestial's hand appears to be begging to be killed, but is ignored by all, and just slumps sadly, resigned to its fate.

After waiting so long for a response, Tenshi crushes the poor monster's stem, making it gag and cough, then threateningly says "so, you are one of them! Trying to keep Ail and the mouse man trapped, huh? Well, it's a good thing I stayed here to snoop around!"

She tosses the Heartless to the air, cuts it to pieces with her sword after suddenly revealing it while swinging it wildly above her head, and as the creature becomes black dust, she turns her attention to the mysterious girl, points her sword at her, and says "I'll stop you and help those guys out, then that stupid Hakurei will have to show me some respect for once!"

The hooded girl seems hesitant about starting a fight with the celestial, though who can blame her, seeing as celestials are incredibly strong creatures.

"Scared of me, huh? Well, you should be," says the cocky blue haired girl, while her agonizing friend says "m-m-Miss Eldest... urk, Daughter. Need... medicine."

Tenshi sighs irritably, turns around and crouches beside her friend, and whispers "look, I'm intimidating this suspicious person so we can save those guys and girls. Be strong, just for a little longer."

Iku suddenly smiles, stands up straight, takes a refreshing deep breath, turns around, then says "wow, thanks! I'm all better now."

The celestial's face almost melts off as she looks up behind herself at the person her friend is thanking, and it's none other than that suspicious hooded woman in black.

She starts sweating bullets while saying to herself "oh crap, she's already here, and the cunning witch made Iku all better. It's a plot to get her against me, but Iku is loyal to me! She'll never betray my trust."

"Oh, those two? Well, the dragon flew over there before disappearing."

Tenshi's skin turns to stone when hearing her friend spit out such sensitive information so easily, roars as she breaks free from her own stoning and stands up, then exclaims "**YOU TRAITOOOOOR! **IKU, HOW COULD YOU! ? That's classified information meant of allies only!"

The oarfish youkai and the hooded figure look so casually at the celestial, ticking her off some more, then the violet-blue haired girl casually says "but she _is_ and ally. She healed you and me while we were crouching."

The celestial looks around herself and notices her bruises from the Gummy Ship's crashes are gone, then she looks at the hooded girl, squints her eyes while pouting, then says "she just wants information."

"N-no! I'd never do that to you, Tenshi!"

The girl gasps and covers her mouth, while the celestial gasps, her face turns a bit pale, then she points at the woman, and says "wait a minute. I know that voice."

The hooded girl points to the sky away from herself, Tenshi and Iku both look away, then the girl jumps incredibly fast toward where Kimi, Ail and Mickey were last seen, dances around the air while holding out a pink napkin, then disappears as fast as she can, leaving two very confused girls wondering what the hell just happened.

* * *

**MORNING**

Kyo, Maribel, Luna, Reisen, Medicine and Goofy stand in front of the entrance to Eientei's grounds, where Eirin loudly says "remember, when you make contact with her, try to keep your distance while you tire her out. Udonge, if, and only **IF** she proves too dangerous for all of you, give me the signal."

The Moon Rabbit bows to her master, and softly says "I understand Master. I trust that won't be needed."

The boy quickly steps up, and asks "are you sure about this? I really don't want to involve Kaguya in this mess if you don't want us to, really."

The Lunarian Pharmacist raises her hand to quiet the boy down, then says "nonsense. The Princess has already agreed to this, and seems she's delighted with the idea, so save the macho crap and get going. The sooner you take Mokou down, the sooner you'll get back to the shrine."

Maribel twitches when hearing these words, and noticing the reaction, Luna says "don't worry, I'm sure Renko is just fine. Now remember, we are going to assist them from behind. We still need to recover from yesterday's wounds, ok."

The cat-eared girl nods, though doesn't look away from the ground, then looks up when Goofy places his hands on her shoulders, and says "you gotta have more faith in your friend there, Miss Maribel. Otherwise, you'll be hurtin' your heart, and hers, for not believin' in each other."

Kyo, as bluntly as ever, says "that's right, so strengthen that heart! We are hunting Heartless after all. We need you at your best!"

Maribel sniffles, a tear escapes her right eye, and as she flicks it off, she smiles and with a cracked voice says "y-you're right. I have to be strong, for Renko, and all my friends."

Medicine groans impatiently, throws her hands to the air, and shouts "you humans and your crap! Hurry this sappy sob chat so we can go hunt that girl! I'm ITCHING for some payback!"

The poisonous youkai earns herself many scowls, but simply shrugs and says "what? Weeping here won't get us that crystal, OR any closer to getting home, so why don't we just move this party already."

Kyo shakes his head, but, while wrapping an arm around his girlfriend, he admits "as annoyingly rough as she is, Medi's right, people. Let's move."

As they walk away from the safety of the mansion, Eirin loudly says "remember what I told you. Don't hesitate to use the signal, but please try to tire her out before you call!"

And after a wave from Kyo, and a reassuring bow from Reisen, the party seemingly disappears from sight after leaving the illusion protecting Eientei, while the silver haired Lunarian remains lost in thought, as though trying to solve a complex puzzle in her mind.

* * *

"**EUREKA!**"

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine, Mima's victory cheer frightens the few fairies in the area, and wakes up Donald and Marisa, the latter muttering "dammit, I'm awake early in the morning again."

The witch's morning sourness is quickly dissolved when her eyes and nose are met with the delights of a hearty breakfast waiting for her at the table; a meal clearly made by Mystia and Daiyousei again.

"Please eat up," begins Daiyousei from the kitchen. "We made plenty for everyone, but please eat now, before Rumia breaks free again."

Marisa and Donald notice one rolled up futon bouncing and wriggling around on the other futons occupied by the heartless girls, wrapped at the center with seals clearly made by Alice, and from within, Rumia shouts "come on, I'm still hungry! Just another bowl, pleeeaaase!"

Meanwhile, Alice, Mima and Patchouli walk out of the room corridor, through a magical hole made to Reimu's right, and by the looks on their faces, they seem to have succeeded at something.

"So, your experiment worked, I assume?" asks Marisa with her soup bowl on hand.

Her former mentor's beaming face tells her she's right, and the spirit knows it, yet she eagerly says "oh yes it did! From now on we can communicate with you as if we were right there next to you. And that's not all!"

Patchouli takes the front of the group and says "we succeeded in extending its range, and we also succeeded in augmenting the vision function too."

Alice raises a finger to the air as she proudly says "it was a simple matter of focusing the third eye with cooling spells and shading barriers. Quite simple, really."

Mima holds one of two new crown-shaped emblems, squeezes it against her chest, and excitedly says "now I can even look at Hunk's butt as if it were right in front of me. *Sigh* Too bad I can't squeeze it."

"Hey, we heard that loud and clear," says the annoyed Kyo, whose voice comes crisp and clear from the spirit's emblem, while said woman chuckles playfully, and says "well that's good. I won't have to explain myself again."

Both Kyo and Luna groan at the same time, then the boy asks the golden question, "so you did all of that in one night. That's wonderful. Can you contact Ail and Mickey now?"

All three faces quickly become long, though Patchouli's seems more normal as she says "yes, and no. The signal is strong, but there's something blocking us from seeing clearly where they are, or from contacting them successfully."

"It's like some sort of barrier," complains Alice while she rubs her forehead. "Ugh, I hate to admit it, but we need Yukari's help if we are to find them."

From the emblem, disappointed sighs can be heard, then Kyo asks "say, where the hell is Yukari? I thought she'd reveal herself by now."

Nobody is able to produce a sound after that question, and after a few moments of silence, the boy asks through whispers "right, I see. Anyways, how is Renko? Maribel's been all gloomy about her friend since midnight, so can she speak to her for a bit to calm her down?"

Faces darken all around, then Alice quickly breaks the news. "I'm afraid she's gone."

Mima quickly takes the emblem away from the others, and whispers "Kyo, she was taken by one of those gassy vortexes. The ones that brought and took you Cid friend, as well as Yuffie. We have no clue where she is now."

Meanwhile, at the shrine's veranda, Cirno, whom has Hourai sitting on her shoulder again, carefully explores her Keyblade with her eyes while lifting it against the light of the sun, then the little blonde asks "why are you staring at that thing so much?"

"Why are you hanging around me all the time?" coldly asks the ice fairy.

After a few seconds of silence, the little girl admits "you make me feel safe. It's like I'm with mama Alice and Shanghai when I'm with you."

The ice fairy hums a bit, then says "well I'm curious about this thing. I just ripped off a wing to make a sword, like I always do, but when I did that last night, after Wriggle... well, it turned into this, and now I can turn it on and off whenever I want."

After saying that, the Keyblade disappears from her hand, then reappears exactly as it was, then from her left, Rumia says "that's impressive. Can you give it a keychain, like the one the mouse man had?"

Without looking back, Cirno focuses on her hand, the Keyblade flickers on it, and this time, after becoming solid, a keychain linked by dark-blue beads appear on its bottom, sporting a blue emblem at the end of the beads that looks just like Cirno's ice wings.

The ice fairy, then, looks at the darkness youkai, and asks "so, what's next? You and I are strong; though I'm still stronger. What do we do now?"

"HOW THE HECK DID SHE GET A KEYBLADE?", screams Kyo from the emblem, to which Mima replies "when she and the little black blob saw their friend fall, they cute little hearts ignited, and they just started kicking butts and taking names like nobody's business."

"And what's the name of that thing?" asks Marisa before shrugging and adding "you know, like Mickey's Star Seeker and Ail's Kingdom Key."

Cirno lifts her Keyblade, stares at it for a while, then says "it needs a powerful name. The strongest name ever, so I'll call it The **Cirno** Keyblade!"

Even from the emblem, groans of disgust are heard all over, making the little fairy complain and wave her arms around, knocking Hourai off her shoulders.

Rumia places a dangerously friendly arm on her friend's shoulder, then smiles as she says "just call is the Razor Wing, or I'm going to shove that thing up your-"

* * *

Back at the Bamboo Forest, Mima, speaking through Kyo's emblem, says "alright, we'll be moving the downed girls to Reimu's room. Kyo, as soon as you are done with Mokou, come on over. Even with Marisa, Donald , that cute ice fairy, and that weird blob girl, we may still need help with the Heartless."

"But everything seems to be fine over there. Are you sure?", questions the boy, to which the spirit playfully replies "that's how things started yesterday~"

With a grimace, the bulky boy looks to the sky and says "oh yeah. Everything seemed to be going so well in the morning. Jeez."

That's when he notices Goofy and Reisen trying their best to cheer Maribel up, and before he asks, Luna walks closer to him, and whispers "she heard what happened to Renko. Just don't mention anything to her about it, and let's keep an eye on her."

Kyo looks at his girlfriend and nods, saying "yeah. the Heartless will be all over her in that state."

"**HEEEY-A!**"

All eyes go to Medicine and Su-San, and the black dust dissipating in front of them, then the blonde youkai looks back with furrowed brows, a cocky smile, pumps her fist, and says "oh yeah, finally some action!"

Powerwilds and Fluffbounds start popping out of black vortexes in front of the large party, and just as those Heartless start jumping around threateningly, Kyo commands "Goofy, Medicine, with me! Reisen, keep Luna and Maribel safe!"

Two small parties are made, and the boy, the dog and the youkai doll rush to meet with the monsters head-on, while the other three girls step back with their backs pressed against each other.

Kyo raises his golden-flamed sword and strikes three Heartless at once, releasing their hearts with one blow, Goofy jumps and body-slams two Fluffbounds with his shield, and Medicine covers her hands with poison and starts smacking Powerwilds on the center of their faces, while Su-San flies by, cutting them with a beam of light.

One of the monkeys jumps at the boy from behind, but the humanoid dog intercepts it, and smashes its face with his shield, then smashes it against the ground, where it becomes black dust.

"Thanks," says the boy with a thumbs up, before turning around and slicing various rabbits and monkeys in half, releasing their hearts at once.

The little blonde finishes off the two remaining Heartless, turns to face the muscled boy as those monsters slowly turn to black dust, and angrily says "stop taking all the fun for yourself! I want to kick Heartless butts too!"

The black dog wants to tell the girl Kyo is just doing his job, but instead, he points up to the top of the bamboo and exclaims "look! It's Miss Mokou!"

"So nice of you to remember me, Goofy," quickly begins the possessed girl as she hovers slowly around, threatening to go to the three girls while saying "you guys owe me for taking Keine's body from me, so I'm here to collect."

As she continues flying toward the human girls and Moon Rabbit, Kyo tries to get her from behind, but Mokou merely flashes his face with a pair of flaming wings and continues her way.

"Maribel, dear, you look tired and pained. Come with me to the darkness and let me take your sorrows away," softly says the immortal as she slowly gets closer to the girls.

Reisen's face becomes twisted and wildly feral as her red eyes glow intensely, but Mokou merely smiles to this, her eyes glow purple, and the Moon Rabbit starts to scream when her own eyes get covered with a black substance that seems to form right in front of her lids.

With the rabbit girl screaming on her knees, the darkened immortal easily reaches the humans, extends her arms, and sinisterly whispers "Luna, I know how you feel. He still has you in doubt and won't propose, while you actually want to start a family. Forget all that. Come with me, and you'll never feel alone or in doubt again!"

Both Luna and Maribel look at each other, then at Mokou, whose eyes seem to glow with a faint purple aura, and slowly, the blonde girl lifts her hand towards Mokou's.

Fujiwara smiles vilely, Medicine and Goofy call for the girl as they run fast to get to them, then several pink and maroon hearts blast the immortal girl off her feet, and send her crashing against a wall of bamboo, where she turns into a purple mist, and disappears.

Everyone sighs with relief, including Reisen, whose eyes quickly return to normal, and Maribel herself, who whispers "that one felt good."

"Hahahaha! Excellent! You guys won't be so boring after all. Put up a fight and amuse me to no ends. I'll still take all your hearts, and there's nothing you can do about it! KEAHAHAHAHA!"

Mokou's voice echoes all over the forest, and stops as soon as it started, then Kyo, who finally manages to stand up and see clearly, looks at Maribel and Luna with relieved eyes, and ominously says "she's gotten stronger."

Goofy helps Reisen to her feet, then cheerfully says "ah-yup! But you remember, we got a strong ally now. She won't get away from us this time!"

Even Medicine looks a bit worried, but manages to relax a bit after hearing Goofy's reassuring words, then says "that's right. That's very right! You guys got ME, so there's nothing to worry about!"

Kyo sighs as he face palms, points his sword toward where last Mokou disappeared, and commands "come on! She's hiding this way! Let's get her!"

"Remember," begins Patchouli from the emblem, "when you remove the crystal from her, be very careful."

"Yes, yes, that thing about Shanghai, I know!" complains the boy.

There is a short pause as the party regroups, then the magician calmly says "actually, I'm starting to have second thoughts about that. Still, best be safe than sorry. Be careful either way."

* * *

"Wake up, princess! It's going to be lunch time in just a few more hours, so it's high time to GET THE HECK UP!"

Yuka's sweet, sweet voice is the first thing Sanae hears as she opens her eyes and gets off the silky-soft, cloud-comfortable, fuzzily-warm, white-sheeted bed she's on, and after a moan, she mumbles "whu-hmm... What happened?"

Her blurry eyes can make out the squiggly shapes of the youkai woman, and the pink-clad girl, who sweetly says "don't you remember? We crashed into a large white castle and lost consciousness as soon as the floors stopped moving."

The shrine maiden's eyes finally adjust themselves, Yuka smiles and waves, then turns away, then the girl looks to Aerith, and says "oh... Oh, that's right! We tried to stop, but everything we tried made things worse!"

The ample room they are in is completely white, save for a few red flags with yellow borders that have black a motif that looks suspiciously like Mickey's face, which hang around the windows, the bathroom sign, which is pink, and the knobs on the doors, which are gold.

The brown-haired girl smiles sheepishly as a drop of sweat rolls down the side of her head, and mumbles "um, right. You hit all those buttons..." then loudly says "well, yes, that. Um, it seems we are at another world now, so..."

Sanae gasps, almost choking on herself, then exclaims "Ail-kun! Where's Ail, and Mickey! What happened to my Ail-kun, and with Kimi! ?"

Yuka groans impatiently from the background, and says "man, humans are so slow!", then Aerith sighs, and says "please, try and wake up. Remember what happened. It's impossible for us to know what happened."

The green-haired human holds her chin while in thought, looks out the windows and admires the clean blue skies with white fluffy clouds, then starts to remember getting run over by Mickey's ship, scooped up by a net, pressing a button in the ship and causing it to take off, then pressing more buttons in her attempt to not crash against the white castle with blue towers, and then crashing anyways.

"Ohh yeah," calmly says Sanae while nodding to herself. "Then those cow and chicken men came over, saying we were under arrest."

There is a very loud crack and a bang, two disturbingly loud clunks, and when the attention goes to Yuka she tosses the broken door with two dents away, points with her thumb at the two armored humanoid dogs falling unconscious on the ground in front of the open door, then says "now she gets it. And now we get out of here and go back home, alright."

The girls just blink at the flower master, but immediately follow after her, carefully hopping over the unconscious guards on the floor.

They make their way down the beautifully mirror-polished balcony adorned with red and yellow, and blue and yellow flags and curtains, hopefully making their way to the exit of that castle, when they suddenly come across a gathering hall, where a girl cries "but I'm not here to cause trouble, really! My name is Renko, and I don't know how I ended up inside your king's bath tub!"

"By the way, it was very comfortable and nice," adds the girl, then Sanae gasps and says "hey, that's Renko! We have to help her!"

Yuka smacks the back of the wind priestess' head and says "don't point out such obvious things, or I'll smack you!"

Tears hang under the girl's eyes as she holds the back of her head, and cries "don't warn me after hitting me."

Aerith just giggles softly and heals the girl's fresh bump as they make their way into the large room.

As soon as they get inside, a large red and black rooster humanoid wearing a helmet and breastplate, shinier than the other guards', shouts "the prisoners have escaped! Don't let them run around the castle!", then proceeds to point his spear at the girls.

Renko looks over the multitude of cows, chickens and ducks, then smiles when she sees the girls and exclaims "you guys, I can't believe this! I'm so happy to see you! Even you, Yuka!"

Yuka smiles ever so ominously toward the guards and Renko, and sweetly says "my, I should feel flattered, yet somehow..."

She spots her umbrella, Sanae's gohei and Aerith's staff at the end of the room, stomps her right foot, and ominously continues "...I feel somewhat offended. I. don't. LIKE. feeling offended."

"Don't try anything funny, woman! I got my eye on you!" threatens a dog humanoid guard as he points at the flower youkai with his spear.

Sanae and Aerith press their backs against each other as a rooster and a bull humanoid threaten them with spears, then the pink-clad girl says "we're not really here to cause any trouble. We would just like to go back home."

The guards and maids suddenly scream, Aerith staff falls on her hands, Sanae's gohei falls on her head, then Yuka, whom has her parasol back on her hands, cackles and says "now, one of you is going to be so kind as to point us to the exit, or I'll have to get a little rough on you."

"WAIT, WAIT," cries Sanae while gently tapping the youkai on the shoulder and getting her attention. "We're not supposed to cause trouble! We're the good guys!"

The mentioned guards and maids are now either hanging upside down by vines wrapped around their legs, or are being slowly eaten alive by beautiful giant flowers, but all are actually marveled by the beauty of the flowers Yuka has summoned all around them, and even though in danger, they can't help but gasp and awe in admiration.

The flower master starts to blush and looks away to hide this, then Renko points out "aww, she's blushing. She never gets this much praise."

"Odd! If she can produce such wonderful flowers, it's a mystery she doesn't get more praises!"

"The queen!" exclaims a guard. "Queen Minnie!", calls a chicken maid. "My queen, please, leave this place! These people are dangerous!", commands the rooster man.

Minnie Mouse looks similar to Mickey, save for the fact that she's got long eyelashes, her head looks a little thinner, wears a golden tiara with red jewels on her head, and wears long white elbow gloves, and a long, puffy pink dress that covers her completely, and symbolizes her stature in the kingdom.

She walks to Yuka, cooing while caressing the red flowers growing on the vines she passes by, which makes the youkai shiver and flush, and once she's in front of the woman, she sweetly says "I must say, these flowers are beautiful. Maybe you could help us with our garden. We've been having nothing but bad luck with it, and would greatly appreciate your assistance."

The flower youkai seems to tremble as she looks down at the queen with apparent fear, and stammers "um, but I, wup. That is", and thinks "_such gentle hands! What a sweet voice! Her mere presence makes me feel like she's tending to me with outmost loving care!_"

Without realizing it, and to Sanae, Renko's, and even Aerith's surprise, the flower master smiles, as though lost in a trance, and nods to the queen.

The mouse girl giggles sweetly, covering her mouth with her hand, then says "alright, thank you very much. Um, would you mind letting my servants go? I'm sure they would very much like to get back to their regular duties."

Without saying a word, all the threatening flowers and vines slither away from the room, leaving only the harmless flowers behind adorning the white walls, then Sanae crosses her arms under her chest, and complains "ok, this is just fine and stuff, but what about Ail and Mickey?"

"Mickey? What happened to Mickey?" the queen's voice comes out a bit high pitched out of shock and surprise.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the World of Darkness, Mickey groans as he wakes up, opens his eyes, and lifts himself up with great effort to meet Ail's face, while said boy is currently sitting on a dark rock in his Yozoragan mode and is healing the king's back injury by touching him with the ethereal wings.

"Urgh! Whoa. What happened to us?", groggily asks the black mouse while shaking his head and testing his limbs, one by one.

The brown haired boy shakes his head, calls off his wings, then says "I'm not sure where here is, but Kimi has stranded us here aright. It's all I know at the time."

Mickey looks to his friend with concern, finally manages to stand, and says "Ail, buddy, you don't sound so good. Are you injured?"

The boy just shakes his head, places the tip of his fingers on his forehead, and while looking at the black sky between his fingers, he sadly says "I just feel so strange. Like I'm depressed about everything. I don't even want to get up from this spot, even though I know we have to go."

The king runs in front of the boy, grabs him by the shoulders, and furiously commands "SNAP OUT OF IT, AIL! Get on your feet this instant before I smack yer head upside down with the Star Seeker," then strikes the side of his friend's face with the back of his gloved hand.

Anilan springs on to his feet, blubbers while shaking his head, and sounding more energetic, he looks around and asks "wha-wha-what? What happened? Whoa! What in the world happened to me? It's like I just wanted to get consumed by the darkness!"

He looks down to the kingly mouse and says "thanks Mickey! I owe you one!"

"Naw," begins the king while flapping his hand once in the air. "You owe me nothin'. But Ail, this world is unnaturally dark. We must keep our hearts strong at all times. I'm afraid of what might happen if we fail this simple task."

The dense boy quickly turns his thoughts to Sanae, seeing her as she happily greets him when he returns home, takes a deep breath, filling himself with the warming light that image brings to him, and with a smile on his face, he says "alright, I got 'cha. I'll keep my light shining brightly."

Mickey nods and says "good," then looks around the dark beach and continues "now that we got that settled, how about tryin' out one of your rifts to see if we can go back to Gensokyo?"

Ail mentally beats himself on the head repeatedly when he realizes he didn't even think of such an obvious thing to try, but he quickly composes himself to make himself look a bit less sheepish, stands up, then aims his hand away from himself and the mouse.

A few seconds later, a pitch black gap opens up, and inside of it are a pair of round yellow eyes looking back at the boys.

The humanoid mouse jumps back and summons his Keyblade, while Ail simply closes his gap faster than he can think about it, then looks at his partner and nervously says "let's not try that again!"

The mouse nods and says "y-y-y-yeah, let's just see if we can find a way out of here that doesn't involve that gap again."

After a quick nod in agreement, Ail and Mickey make their way deeper into the darkness, hoping to find a way out of that depressing and dark world.

* * *

**MIDDAY**

At the Bamboo Forest, Kyo jumps from one bamboo wall to the next, slashes the Powerwilds below him while flying through the air, then jumps off the next wall, somersaulting as he lands in the middle of a group of Fluffbounds, causing an explosion of energy that sends the few surviving Heartless flying all over the place, while releasing the hearts of the rest.

Goofy cheers as he intercepts two of the airborne Heartless with his Rocket skill, turning those monsters into dust, while Reisen sharp-shoots the rest from a safe distance, and Maribel and Luna make sure the rabbit's back is covered.

On an area immediately aside the first battleground, where everyone is working together, Medicine and Su-San are taking out Heartless all on their own, sometimes releasing hearts, other times simply turning them to dust.

The little flying doll strikes a Fluffbound before it kicks the large doll, causing it to fall on its back, then the doll youkai grabs the rabbit by the ears and swings it around with all her might, striking various other Heartless around her, and turning most to dust, then pierces the chest of the rabbit with her hand, releasing its heart.

The second she's done there, she runs forward, tackles a Powerwild on the stomach with a poison-covered shoulder, releases its heart, releases a thick cloud of black poison, which Su-San spreads around by flying in rapid circles, and all the Heartless in the area are defeated, though only a few have their hearts released.

Immediately afterward, the blonde jumps left, kicks another Powerwild on the chin, grips its tail with a poison-covered hand, pulls it toward herself, then the tiny doll gives it an uppercut that releases its heart and sends the body flying as it turns to black dust.

From his side, Kyo defeats three more Fulffbounds in one swing, then shouts "Medi, you're pushing yourself too hard!"

Medicine finishes off the last monkey in front of her, raises her fist to the boy, and shouts "hey, I'm doing just fine, so save your worries and start kicking more Heartless butts!"

A Fluffbound headbutts the girl on the back after taking off the ground like a miniature rocket, and that blonde rolls several times after bouncing off the ground once, then skids to a stop right in front of Reisen, who kneels down with a green bottle that contains a yellow star inside.

As she applies the rejuvenating liquid potion on the doll girl, she sighs and says "please be more careful. These potions aren't going to last forever."

Medicine lifts her head and glances upward, revealing her wriggled frowning lips, watery eyes, her body convulsing with frustrated sobs, but before she breaks down, Luna kneels down and hugs the girl, cooing "there, there, calm down. You just let your guard down and got hit."

The blonde youkai simply melts in the girl's embrace, and sighs contently while letting her head rest on the human's shoulder, all while Su-San approaches them with a disappointed look in her eyes.

Goofy stares at the situation from a safe distance, bends slightly to the right, then whispers "say, Kyo, is that really Medicine? She seems a bit off at the time."

Kyo bends left to get closer to Goofy, reveals a hidden camera in his pocket, and whispers back "don't tell her, but I took three pictures of this right now. I'm going to use these until I'm satisfied."

"MOKOU!" barks Maribel, pointing toward the left, just as the purple image of the immortal flies by, heading toward the Human Village, then, without saying a word, the whole party chases after Kyo, whom runs deeper into the Bamboo Forest instead.

"Kyo, sweetheart, she went the other way," calls Luna, whom still holds Medicine in her arms.

Reisen looks back and shouts "that's a fake! She's going to her house! Trust him, he can feel her wavelengths thanks to that emblem of his!"

A wall of fire ignites right in front of their path, then another ignites behind them, and before they know it, a giant, thin Heartless with what look like zigzagging arms made from paper and spindly legs resembling scissor jacks, falls from the sky and starts juggling purple clubs as it lifts itself up.

The extra tall Heartless' long head is composed of various faces alternating in red and black, all with little yellow dots for eyes and jagged mouths, and wears a black armor with red shoulder pads and a black codpiece that cover its thin red body, the top half of its skinny legs are red, while the bottom are black, and its feet are black with a curved tip.

It appears to struggle to keep its heads balanced, showing off its red and black heart emblem on the top of its last head, and after gaining its balance again, it begins to juggle while walking around, generating shockwaves with each step taken.

"Dammit, GET BACK EVERYONE!", commands the boy as he readies his wind shield and sword, then looks back to Luna and says, "there's something fishy about that thing, so keep an eye out, and try to keep as far away as you can from it!"

He quickly turns to Goofy and Medicine, whom rejoins the black dog as the boy commands "those legs look tough, and those arms seem pointless! Try to hit its body and head! Now, CHARGE!"

The three of them rush toward the tall monster, stop to avoid getting swatted away by one of those clubs, then Kyo and Medicine take flight, while Goofy rockets up and strikes the monster's hip.

The doll youkai and the boy attack the chest and head directly, and while the little girl and her tiny doll damage the monster's chest, the human boy strikes the top head with his shield, then cuts down at the other heads with his sword.

The Heartless seems to roar without making an actual sound, crouches down, allowing the humanoid dog to hit its head, then springs to the air and lands fast and hard, pushing its attackers away with the air pressure it causes.

Maribel starts shooting fireballs at it, while Luna shoots her colorful kunai bullets, and Reisen her own white bullets.

The monster seems to pay no mind to the shooting girls, and casually makes its way to the wall of fire, while, from the emblem, Mima cheerfully says "that hard butt of yours really comes in handy for tough landings, hunk."

"We're kind-a busy here," angrily begins the boy just as he stands up. "If you're just calling in to tease, please call some other time."

There is a second of a pause before the spirit says "aww, so cold. Anyway, that's a Trickmaster. Don't let it ignite its clubs with fire, or you'll be in lots of pa-oh..."

Just as she is saying that, the Trickmaster places its clubs next to the flaming walls and they quickly ignite, and now it turns around and quickens its pace toward the attacking party.

"I wish that hadn't happened," comments the boy before kicking off the ground and flying toward its face.

Medicine is already on it, and readies to spit some poison at this flames, but as the Heartless juggles its flaming clubs, balls of fire rain down on the girl, burning her up and forcing her to retreat hastily.

Goofy gets in front of her, blocking the fireballs with his shield, and shouts "go ahead Miss Medicine! Give 'im yer best shot!"

"Thanks," replies the little blonde while preparing a thick, and concentrated cloud of poison she spews over the dog's head, which quickly blinds the Trickmaster, and makes it act erratically.

Kyo chuckles softly, quickly approaches the large Heartless, going through the cloud of poison, and even though blinded in said cloud, he swings his sword with deadly accuracy, while keeping his windy shield in front of his eyes, keeping the thick poison away from them.

"Alright, just one more hit, and-"

Kyo's declaration is cut short when Reisen shouts "PRINCESS!", and a cackling madwoman showers the Trickmaster with innumerable amounts of colorful bullets, turning it into dust and releasing its heart in the most violent way possible, right on front of the brave boy.

The muscled boy quickly gets out of the dissipating poison cloud, lands behind Goofy and Medicine, looks up to the sky at the crazy girl, and shouts "Kaguya, what the hell? That monster was ours!"

The Moon Princess covers her smiling mouth with her sleeve and says "whoops. Pardon my rudeness. It's just that you were taking so long, I was getting bored of watching you flail about."

"**FLAIL ABOUT!**" parrot both Medicine and Kyo at the same time, sounding raging mad as they both shake their fists at the princess.

Luna holds the doll youkai back and Goofy holds the boy, while Reisen and Maribel approach the Lunarian, then the Moon Rabbit bows and ask "Princess Kaguya, what are you doing here? What about Eientei? Weren't you supposed to wait for my signal?"

The girl casually flaps her right hand, and says "I got bored of doing all that stuff with the barrier, so Eirin's taking care of that now. But that's not important. What's important now is that we go and kick Mokou's butt in five seconds!"

The entire party, except Goofy, stare at the princess with tiny white dots for eyes.

The humanoid dog just stares rather casually, then suddenly snaps his finger, points it at the black haired girl, and says "a-hyuck! Now I get it! Yer majesty's just feelin' lonely, so she decided to come join us and have fun at the same time."

The Moon Princess just stares at the dog in complete shock, and gags on her own words, finding it impossible to reply something intelligible.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine, a Fluttering Fury appears to shriek in fear when an icy Keyblade is an inch from its head, and as soon as it is touched by the weapon, its heart is released.

At the same time, a Soldier cowers at a corner outside of the shrine's storage house, waves its hands defensively in front of itself, then a black sword with a red glow falls on its head, releasing its heart and finishing it off.

Cirno sighs as she swipes the cold sweat from her forehead, then says "phew! That's the last of this wave. How are things on your end, Rumia?"

The little blonde in a black leotard and brown shorts giggles as she places her sword secure against her rope belt, and says "Heartless eliminated! Time to move to the next level!"

The ice fairy smiles as she waves her arms above her head and cheers "I don't know what that means, but we are awesome," a cheer that Rumia easily nods to.

The two little warriors make their way into the shrine's living quarters, and there they are greeted by two amused fairies of light and a tiny blonde girl whom looking at a hysterical evil spirit banging her hands hard on a table while laughing to the point of tears.

Sunny, Star and Hourai look back at Cirno and Rumia, point at Mima, then monotonously say "**her brain broke.**"

The supposedly evil spirit takes a few, unneeded breaths, looks at the two fairies and tiny girl, then says "I can't help it! That Lunarian got served by Goofy, and he wasn't even trying!"

"I HEARD THAT!",shouts Kaguya from the emblem. "I don't know who the heck you are, but you have NO right to make fun of me! Inaba! Find that cretin and teach her some manners! Do it in TEN seconds!"

Mima resumes her fit of maniacal laughter, and almost to tears, she shouts "she's so stupid! HAHAHA! Oh my goodness, what an amusing party member she is! I like her!"

Ignoring Kaguya's unladylike curses, cusses and threats, Alice sighs irritably and says "first those Heartless, then Shanghai, then youkai losing their hearts... and now a foul-mouthed princess. Gensokyo never holds back its punches, doesn't it?"

Patchouli glances around the shrine for a bit, notices Mima has calmed down, though seems to ignores this, and asks hey, where are Marisa and Donald?"

Marisa and Donald are walking up the river's edge at the Youkai Forest as they head toward the Youkai Mountain; the witch having a steeled intense look in her eyes.

The duck sighs, which seems like a long squawk, then asks "so, what are we doing here?"

"Yes. What _are_ you doing there, Marisa?", says the disappointed voice of Patchouli from the heart emblem on Maria's hat, whom obviously notices Donald laughing quietly behind the witch's back, and strictly adds "you too, Donald!"

The duck aws, while the blonde just keeps walking as if nothing, and coldly says "I'm looking for the one person that can help us find those lost hearts."

There is a short pause before Alice asks "Marisa, didn't we agree that we wouldn't split up? Please, come back. What happened to Shanghai was not your fault."

There is a long moment of silence, and Donald thinks of answering for his partner, but Marisa beats him to the punch, and smiles as she says "that's why I'm with Donald. Don't worry."

"Marisa..." is all Alice can reply, to which the blonde witch says "I love kicking your butts all over the place, you know that Alice, but this was too much. Don't get me wrong, I'm not doing this for any of you. I just want peace of- No, I just want to get back at those Heartless."

"That's not the point," begins Mima, who clearly sounds disappointed. "Marisa, what if we are attacked by large groups of those creeps again! We need your firepower here. And if you can release hearts too, then-"

"You have Cirno and Rumia there. There's also Alice, and she's no pushover. You've got plenty of firepower," interrupts the witch, whom stops her walk, summons her broom to her right hand, which appears the same way Mickey's and Cirno's Keyblades appear, and says "now if you'll excuse me, some people need my help."

By now they have left the river behind, and are now entering a dark and humid cave, where Donald says "um, maybe we should go back. I'm getting a bad feeling about this."

Marisa turns around and angrily says "don't be a chicken, you quack! We're going in, and that's final!"

When she turns around again, she gasps with fright, while back at the shrine, the girls can hear a loud thud, Donald squawking Marisa's name desperately, then the giggle of what sounds like a little girl.

"Marisa!" desperately calls Mima, punching the table hard before closing her eyes and angrily saying "you! What did you do to Marisa? Answer me, you little creep!"

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, Kyo and Goofy arrive first to a run-down house squeezed in a clearing in the forest, and are quickly joined by the girls, whom pant for a bit.

"I shouldn't be this fatigued," says Luna while looking at the house with the broken boards on the roof, the lose boards on the veranda, and the burned holes on one of the walls.

"I should listen to Renko and walk more. But flying is so much fun," says Maribel between breaths.

Reisen is the first of the girls to recover her breath, and says "right. I'm actually surprised I got so tired from that little run. Must be that drug master-"

As the rabbit's voice trails off, Medicine, whom has already recovered her usual self, looks around the dead grass, wooden bits, and pieces of trash around the run-down house, and with a grimace she asks "so, Mokou lives here? That's kind of brutal."

Kaguya smacks her dry lips, looks around the depressing broken down house, but the expected taunt never comes. Instead, she looks back at Kyo and asks "so, is she here?"

The boy nods, points at the house, and says "she's inside, so I'm sure she's waiting to ambush us."

Medicine walks in front, punches her hand with rhythm, and says "alright, time for some payback. That girl will be sorry she made me mad."

With a cheeky smile, Luna quickly says "sure, act tough now. Just don't get hit and cry again, ok."

The blonde youkai's face turns red, steam rises from her head, she throws her fists down, and growls out loud, while the girls all chuckle softly behind her.

"That was... H-It just caught me off guard! I got surprised," screams the little girl while looking to the ground.

Kyo shushes the girls, and he, along with Goofy and Kaguya, glare toward the wooden house, from where slow steps can be heard getting closer to them, and then Mokou's soft chuckle echoes all around the clearing.

The way back gets sealed up by a purple, glass-like barrier, the left side of the immortal becomes visible through the doorway, and her mixed and twisted voice echoes all over as she says "so, you brought her with you. Thank you. This saves me the trouble of hunting the princess down. Now, hold still, _your majesty_, while I take your heart and plunge you into the darkness."

The Moon Princess cracks her fingers while stretching them, eager to start a fight with her hated adversary, and with a bloodthirsty smile on her face, she says "yeah, yeah, sure you will, but you'll have to kill me first, and the odds of that happening today are zero to none."

The entire area seems to squiggle, making Kyo feel a bit sick to his stomach, but this is short lived, and with his golden flamed sword and wind shield on hand, he bends his body forward and commands "I've heard enough! Let's go get 'er!"

Before he charges forward he quickly realizes something is wrong, so instead, he stands his ground and studies his surroundings.

Goofy, Kaguya, Luna; everyone seems to be frozen in time, yet it is obvious that he and Mokou are the only ones able to move.

"Surprised?", softly asks the immortal as she takes a step forward, revealing herself to the boy, who gasps when looking upon his target.

Mokou's right eye has turned purple, its iris has become a dark blue flame, the area around that eye is growing what seems to be a black web, the right side of her hair has turned dark purple, and the fingers on her right hand have become black claws.

She grins widely at the shocked boy, and says "it's funny how, with a little taunt, I was able to make that girl power up. I used that aura of hers to mimic her powers of eternity. Right now, time has stopped for them, but... Well, you did the math, so let's skip the obvious dialogue."

Before Kyo asks why, Mokou's twisted, warped and echoed voice vibrates all around the clearing while she laughs manically, and as soon as she stops laughing, she looks at the boy and says "out of all these idiots here, _you_ present the most danger for us. I simply plan to erase you from this plane of existence to make master's life a little easier."

In the blink of an eye, both Kyo and Mokou are face to face, pushing her black fire against his wind shield, and somehow, the boy manages to match the immortal's strength.

He swings his sword at her face, and as expected, she jumps away, though not before getting struck on the thigh, which gives the boy the chance to follow up with a shield on the stomach, then on the face.

The immortal girl takes flight, rubbing her nose, looks down as she raises her hands above her head, and shouts "you think you can beat me? You... THINK...", a massive ball of black fire twice the size of her body appears above her hands, and she screams "**WROOOOONG!**"

Kyo clicks his tongue and takes flight so that the shot doesn't hit anybody else, but the twisted girl throws it straight at Luna and cackles madly.

The boy calls out for his woman and gets in front of the flame, calls off his sword to expand his shield so that it covers his and her body completely, and is almost pushed back, but he keeps his ground.

Mokou laughs as she flies to his right, smiles as the boy stands helplessly on that spot, then lifts her right claw, eager to strike him hard.

"THINK AGAIN," shouts the boy when he suddenly moves the entire fireball along with his shield to his right, crushing Mokou with white wind and black fire.

The impact causes her to bounce helplessly in mid-air, where Kyo jumps after her and summons his sword to slash her in a cross formation, creating a golden 'X', then expands his shield after calling the sword off again, and pushes it with all his might on the center of the 'X' his sword created.

The immortal woman screams as loud as she can when this light penetrates her skin and blows her all the way against her own barrier, which makes her bones crack and the boy wince.

He ignores the obvious pain she's feeling and rushes forward to attack, but that's when a pink blur flies by him, and he winces again when Kaguya sinks a very vicious fist into Mokou's stomach, making the girl cough and her barrier to crack.

"I'll teach you to use my own powers against me, red-pants," declares Kaguya as she picks her immortal rival by the neck and lifts her above her own head.

She spins the girl around until she looks like a human disk, flies as high as she can, then shouts "Kyo, go!"

The boy calls off his shield to summon his sword with augmented strength, obvious due to the large golden flames surrounding it, and he nods, acknowledging the princess' plan.

Kaguya coos quite happily after tossing Mokou towards Kyo, the boy roars as he prepares to swing that blade, and strikes the possessed phoenix girl on the back, making her yelp out loud and forcing her to the air again.

The moon princes giggles as her rival is once again within her reach, then said lone wolf barks "ENOUGH", then Kaguya yelps and covers her face with her sleeve.

Kyo follows her example as quickly as he can, and just in time too.

Mokou roars furiously, her entire body ignites with blue flames, and after another furious roar, those flames consume themselves and explode as a powerful flash of blinding light that lasts for a few seconds; enough for the flaming girl to run and hide.

When the light fades, the princess meets with the boy, waves her arm all around, freeing everybody else from their eternal bonds, and says "she's gone back into hiding! Can you tell where?"

"Hey, what's going on here? Where's Mokou?", asks the confused Medicine, while she and Goofy exchange confused stares.

Kyo points inside the house, and says "she's in there, but there's something very strange about-"

"Everyone, listen well. It seems the Heartless have turned that place into a base. The moment you enter there, the only way out is to defeat Mokou."

Patchouli's soft and calm voice clashes with the tension currently being felt, and knowing someone is bound to smart-mouth her because of that, she quickly adds "I don't care about my tone. You just focus on the task ahead, and make sure you're prepared before heading inside!"

A quick hum escapes the muscled boy, then he looks to Goofy, Medicine and Kaguya, and all nod to each other, then he looks to Luna, Maribel and Reisen.

"No way, Kyo," complains Luna. "We're in this together! And besides, we have shown you we are strong enough, right Maribel?"

The blond cat-eared girl nods with steeled determination, then says "that's right! We are going in there too, and see this to the end! And Miss Reisen has proven to be able to care for us, so we'll be just fine."

Reisen nods, then says "and I'm not letting the princess go in there unprotected either, so stop giving us that look and let's move!"

Kyo smiles, sighs, then shrugs and says "fine, fine, I won't argue with you. It's impossible to do so. Just do me a favor and show those monsters no mercy."

Luna walks over to her boyfriend, kisses his lips, and after a disturbingly malicious giggle, she says "don't worry. I plan to give them hell."

* * *

Back at the Dark Blowhole, Marisa, whom has a trickle of blood trailing down from her head to her cheek, grits her teeth while looking around herself, then looks to Donald to her left, and whispers "you take the left, while I distract her!"

The duck nods, then the witch runs out of hiding and shoots various lasers from a pair of orbs that fly around her, while at the same time she holds her broom on her hands in case she needs a quick flyaway, or finds an opening for a beating.

Hanging above her is Kisume, who has dark teal hair tied to twin pig tails with white bobbles, her eyes, instead of dark brown, are currently purple, she wears a white kimono, sits inside a cherry-brown bucket with black bands on the top and bottom, and has a dangerous black and purple aura swirling around her head.

Not only that, but she's holding on the Yamame Kurodani's limp body by the left leg, and seems to want to swat the human blonde with the blonde spider youkai.

The spider's hair is tied up to a bun, though seems it's about to break lose because of the loosened brown ribbon, has brown eyes, and wears an brown overall dress tied with yellow ribbons at the skirt, and a long-sleeved black shirt underneath.

One of the witch's lasers cuts the tsurube otoshi's rope, bringing her and the knocked-out spider down, and that's when a group of five Heartless pop out of dark blobs in the darkness.

These creatures look like tiny blue dogs with large heads, big yellow eyes, large jagged-toothed maws, short feet without visible digits, all have a silver-spiked red collar around their waists, and they have their black and red heart emblems on their behinds.

"Aww, COME ON!" roars Marisa when she sees Donald taking on three more of those dogs, distracting himself with the dogs and messing up her plans.

Kisume simply chuckles, tosses Yamame at the witch's feet, then starts hopping away, deeper into the cave.

"STOP HER!" declares the black and white witch, but the Heartless quickly gather in front of the girl and duck, then growl just before they rush in to attack.

Marisa spins her broom around her fingers, ends up holding it near the brush, like some make-shift sword, then a bronze Keychain with a turn color star at the end appears under the brush, and some key-like teeth grow out of the broom's tip.

She swings the broom/Keyblade once, and takes out three of the mutts, releasing their hearts, then calls "Mima, Patchouli, new Heartless! Can you give us a few pointers?"

Donald lifts his small staff and declares "Ice Sign, Blizzaga," a spell card appears at the tip of his weapon, then quickly unleashes a set of thick icicles that spread into snowflake saws that strike several enemies at once.

After his spell is cast, he looks back and shouts "what's goin' on? Why aren't they answering?"

The witch rolls left to avoid getting pounced on, her orbs shoot thin lasers that push some of the dogs back, then she grabs the emblem on the tip of her hat and shouts "Mima-sama, don't do this to me! Please answer!"

"MARISA!"

Donald's call helps the witch realize she is completely surrounded by the blue dogs, and just lets her breath go when she feels she's done for.

Blood red lasers that bounce on the walls strike the dogs on the heads, finishing off most of them, startling the few left, fly past the blonde's head, and seeing this the witch smiles upon looking to her left, and with great relief she says "Mima!"

The green haired spirit flies inside the cave and grabs Marisa from the ground, saving her from a shower of will-o-the-wisps Kisume started throwing, and casts a spell on the flames that burn the Heartless instead.

At the same time, a web string from Yamame's wrist saves Donald from the pulse howl attacks the mutt-like monsters were attacking him with, causing said monsters to yelp as they get stuck against a wall.

Mima's gaze seems to be that of a peaceful woman, but a closer look and a chill to the heart lets all present know otherwise.

This causes Marisa to stop her mouth before asking her former mentor of her presence, and gulps when the spirit coldly says "Rabid Dogs. I'm disappointed in you, Marisa. These should be nothing for someone like you."

The tip of her staff glows gold, a golden beam flies out of that glow, eradicating the remaining monsters, then she points that staff at Kisume, up on the ceiling, and says "but this little monster here did hit you hard, so I'll chuck it up to that."

The little bucket girl yelps, quickly turns around, but before she can start her escape, she's struck by another golden laser at the back, and knocked out immediately, then the spider youkai screams with fright as her friend falls.

A blonde woman with long hair, red eyes, a red horn on her forehead, and wearing a white shirt with red borders, a semi-transparent blue skirt with red stripes, a pair of getta sandals, and has chained shackles on her wrists and ankles, catches the dark-teal haired girl with her bucket, and says "crap, I'm late. You're still paying me for coming all the way here."

"Kisume! Kisume! Is she alright?"

The worried spider youkai picks her friend from the oni's hands and watches as a purple mist leaves the little girl and flies deeper into the cave, while Mima places the dizzy Marisa on the floor, and says "what are you talking about? You're guiding us down there, so be prepared to earn your pay."

Though dizzy from the blow to her head, the witch still manages to look surprised at her former master, but before she can even begin to thank her, the spirit angrily says "next time you talk to me when you plan on doing something so STUPID. After so many things have happened I thought you were more prudent! You put yourself **AND** Donald at risk, not to mention almost worrying _me_ to my second death!"

The black and white scowls, fronts up to the spirit, and bravely says "this _isn't_ some game, Mima-sama! I'm doing this because Satori is the only one that can help us find their hearts, and I'm not leaving here until I have her help!"

The green haired woman lifts her hand, the blonde winces, but soon finds herself being motherly rubbed on the head, opens her left eye, then Mima calmly says "I understand. You feel guilty for what happened to that fairy and Alice's girl while on your watch, but like I said, next time be more prudent and talk to me. You'll be no help if you're defeated too. Now come on, more Heartless could pop up at any minute."

Yuugi's grin widens, she pounds her fist on her hand, making a bit of a shockwave, then says "Heartless huh? Haven't had those in a while. Seems this is going to be fun after all."

Donald looks at Yamame, then at Marisa, then back at the blonde oni, then asks "so, are we going in already, or what?"

Yuugi stares back at the duck with famished eyes, starts to drool, points at him, and says "I don't know what you just said, little morsel, but you sure look tasty! I got the sake, so who's got the grill!"

The white-feathered duck squawks frantically as he runs behind Marisa, then peeks his head from the left of her hip, hiding it again as soon as he sees the hungry oni's red eye locked on him.

* * *

Back at the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, after having had their lunches and healed their wounds, the large party hunting Mokou prepare to enter the ruined house, which they now notice of having no light from outside shining through the open door or windows.

Kyo stares inside, trying to study what he's currently laying eyes on, then looks back and notices hesitation in Luna's eyes, and says "if anyone wants to stay behind, do so. Nobody will judge you for it."

From the emblem, Alice says "and for those of you that go inside, a word of ad- dammit, just a second..."

Explosions, screams and hurried shouts are heard clearly from the emblem, then, when things settle down, the puppeteer can be heard muttering "stupid Heartless won't stop," then continues "anyways, when you go in there, be prepared. You might even lose contact with us, so stay alert, and come back alive!"

The boy nods, his girlfriend grabs his arm, reassuring him that she is going in there with him, and looking at her with a smile on his face, he commands "alright, you heard the boss! We go in there, kick butts, and come back for sake at the shrine!"

Everyone, including Goofy, cheer while raising their hands in the air, then rush inside the building after the muscled boy and his girl.

As they pass through the doorway, everyone feels as though being misplaced for a second, and the next second after that, they all find themselves inside a place where the entirety of the massive world looks like wavy bands of purple, dark violet, black and navy blue waving, crumpling and pulsating all over.

There is no floor, no roof, no walls, only a vast sea of that odd wavy, crumpled darkness moving around very erratically.

Maribel holds her stomach, covers her mouth to avoid throwing up, then says "this is like one of those funhouses Renko used to love, back in the world outside."

Kaguya grins widely, and while looking around she says "so, Mokou finally redecorated. Not bad. Much better than that hovel of a house she used to have."

Reisen and Luna each hold on to the princess' shoulders, then the Moon Rabbit says "please Princess, stay close. We don't know what could be hiding in here.

Goofy and Medicine walk over to Kyo's side, then the doll youkai bravely says "let's start moving. I already don't like being in here, so I'd love it if we could get out of here as soon as possible."

The humanoid dog moans sadly while looking around, then says "I'm with Medicine on that. This place is givin' me the creeps."

The boy moves his eyes left and right to look at his friends, then says "alright then, let's move! Keep a sharp eye out. I'm sure there's more than just Mokou and her ghost lurking around here."

"What a relief! We still have contact," coldly says Patchouli from the emblem. "Everyone, remember to keep each other safe at all times."

The very second she finishes her sentence, a ridiculous amount of Shadows pop out of the darkness, their yellow eyes being the only thing visible of them, then the cold magician sighs and says "looks like you have your work cut out for you already."

There is a loud pop, all eyes turn left to Luna, whom dances around with her swords held tightly on her hands, turning Heartless into dust quite rapidly, and bravely declares "what are we waiting for, to get killed? ATTACK!"

Everyone roars as they rush to the tinny, yet annoying Heartless, while Maribel claps her hands together to summon pure light to them, then starts shooting bright white hearts while declaring "FOR RENKOOOOO!"

Unknown to the party, thirteen spherical bodies float silently behind them, slowly getting closer to Goofy and Maribel, and when they are at least eight feet away, three of those spheres lunge forward.

"AIIEE!" yelps Maribel after falling forward from being knocked on the back of the head.

"WHOA!" yelps Goofy after being bitten on the back and pushed forward, yet he manages to keep on his feet.

Kyo looks back at the spherical black monsters with blue streaks on their bodies, three tentacles with frayed pink tips growing out of their top and bottoms, tiny yellow eyes, large jagged-toothed mouths that are blue inside, and shouts "we've got new ones!"

He quickly goes for the closest monsters, hits it with four slashes from his sword, turning it into black dust, then shouts "Patchouli, what are these things? They're tough!"

Luna goes to Maribel's aid, but when she hits her spherical monster once, it turns to a purple mist and moves away from her, then suddenly expands and strikes the girls with the wide wave it emanates, pushing them back.

Reisen and Medicine go after the one that hurt Goofy, but all three are struck repeatedly when that monster flails about in a berserk rage, and flies away.

From the emblem, Patchouli gasps and says "Darkballs! Attack them relentlessly, or they'll do lots of damage!"

Right after saying that, two Darkballs rush toward the boy, chomping their large mouths furiously, but Kyo swings his sword five times, almost drawing a star on the monsters' paths, and turns them to dust before rushing off toward Luna and saying "thanks Patchouli! Will keep you posted!"

Kaguya blasts the last of the Shadows from existence, turns around, smiles, then says "well those look like fun."

Kyo and Kaguya meet on their way to take on the Darkballs, look at each other and grin, then they both dive in head-first into the battle, while Mokou's laughter echoes all around them.

* * *

Just as the afternoon is about to reach Gensokyo, at the World of Darkness, Ail and Mickey are fighting two Darksides, and seem to be quite fresh and relaxed as they jump around dodging their attacks.

The mouse runs up his monster's muscled arm after it missed a punch, reaches its head, and with a single swing from his Keyblade on the creature's head, it turns to black dust and disappears.

At the same time, the boy jumps high to avoid a fist from connecting with his body, winds his Keyblade of Light as he falls back down, and strikes the arm with all his might, easily turning the monster to dust, and causing himself to spin several times due to the momentum of his swing.

With the Heartless defeated, Mickey chuckles and says "that's seventeen for me, twelve for you. You're gettin' sloppy."

Ail stops spinning, calls off his weapon, then looks at the king and says "sure, you say that, but you're practically a master while I'm a novice with a Keyblade."

The black mouse taps the boy's head with the tip f his Star Seeker, and holding it on the boy's head, he says "don't say that. The only reason I'm better at this than you is because I've had my Keyblade for a longer time, and thanks to that I've learned to strengthen myself. My rank has nothing to do with any of it, only my heart."

He calls off the weapon and the two of them resume their walk down the dimly lit purple road, and the mouse continues "your heart needs to get stronger, Ail, and when you do achieve that, you'll understand that anyone has the same potential as everyone, even if their abilities differ."

The human stares at his partner with confusion present in his eyes, but before he asks the question, the kingly mouse says "once you gain full control of your Keyblade, you'll understand what I mean."

The dense one bends his body slightly upward to look at the darkness above while resting his head on his hands, then asks "so, depending on the strength of my heart, my skill and power with the Keyblade is affected?"

Mickey nods, then says "the stronger your heart, the better. The Keyblade reflects this strengthened heart, augments it, turns that light from your heart into tangible form, and that is what makes it so lethal to the Heartless, who prey on weak hearts."

Ail straightens up, looks down at the kingly mouse, then smiles and says "hmm, I think I get it. You would make a pretty awesome master."

The king chuckles while bashfully looking away, then stops walking very suddenly, tenses up greatly, then starts to look around frantically.

"What's the mat-" Ail's question is quickly put on hold when he feels some odd energy, and starts to shiver when a strange and cold chill crawls up his spine.

Mickey looks around, summons his Keyblade at the same time as the dense boy, then nervously whispers "we gotta get outta here. Ail, can you fly?"

The boy leans closer to his partner and nervously whispers "not in this world, but in my Yozoragan more I can at least run fast. But something tells me running is a very bad idea."

They both hear a soft snarl, rocks shifting around them, then Mickey nods, and nervously whispers "I agree. But what do we do. I don't like this one bit. This ting... feels frighteningly powerful."

The dense boy doesn't need to say it. He knows what Mickey says is true, and that's what's so frightening about this thing that's stalking them from the deep darkness.

There is a very low growl, the entity stops moving, and with a loud gulp, both Ail and Mickey say "**it's going to attack.**"

They can hear four set of claws moving rapidly toward them, a bright white light appears before them, both boy and mouse gasp, and the light appears to consume them as a creature gets close to them and roars furiously.

* * *

**AFTERNOON**

At Disney Castle, Sanae, Renko, Aerith, Minnie and Yuka walk out of the exceedingly elegant dining room, wiping their mouths with silky white napkins that have a symbol that looks like Mickey's face, just like the many adornments around the castle.

"What a nice meal," comments Renko, to which Aerith replies "oh yes. It's the first time in a long time since I actually asked for seconds."

Yuka sighs, burps softly, making sure she does so in a manner that nobody hears her, then groans contently while stretching, and says "oh yes, I'm definitely ready to help grow a garden or two right now."

Minnie giggles, covering her mouth with her gloved hand as she does so, then looks up at the towering green haired woman, and says "wonderful. I shall personally escort you to our garden then."

Sanae smiles weakly, then says "Queen Minnie, I'm so glad to see you smiling like that again. And I'm sorry I couldn't help King Mickey more. I really did try."

The mouse queen stops, turns around to look at the shrine maiden with her sweetest smile, then says "it is hard to hear these things sometimes, but my heart is always connected with the king's. I apologize for overreacting like I did. It is still hard for me to hear those kind of things, but I always remember that as long as I can feel his heart connected to mine, that that means he is alright, and that he'll come back home to tell me of his adventures."

All the girls, including Yuka, sigh after hearing that, their cheeks turn pink, then Renko says "ah, that's true love. How lucky you are to have found him."

The mouse queen just giggles, then looks at Sanae, and says "you should have a connection like that to your Ail. From what you have told me, you two have connected really well already."

The green haired girl places her hands on her cheeks while giggling, then says "maybe~ I actually don't know. How do I know?"

Minnie smiles, walks over to the girl, then says "well, close your eyes, concentrate on him, his name, his smile, all the things about him that make you happy, and when you start feeling that tingly sensation, you'll know you are connected. If you don't... well, we'll get to that if it happens."

All the girls start to giggle around Sanae, making it seem as though they are all silly little schoolgirls swooning over silly things, like a crush on a boy, or a chat about cute things that make no sense to us men.

The shrine maiden finally shushes the other girls, closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and focuses.

Her smile widens, and she chuckles a bit when thinking about Anilan, then suddenly whispers "oh, I can feel it, the tingle. I can feel him. ...Wait."

That smile slowly becomes a frown, with her eyes still closed, she raises her right arm and whispers "Ail-kun? Wh-where are you? It's so dark."

"Sanae, what's happening," softly asks Aerith from the side.

The green haired girl takes a step forward, still lifting her right hand, and nervously says "there's the light. Go to the light."

By now, the queen closes her eyes and focuses, then Sanae suddenly shouts "GO TO THE LIGHT, YOU IDIOT!"

She falls on her knees, panting hard, taking deep breaths through her mouth, cold sweat rolls down her cheeks and neck, mixing with her tears, and almost choking on her own throat, she asks "what was that thing? what was it doing to my Ail-kun?"

The girls stare at the shrine maiden as if looking at a helpless alien, unsure of what to do, what to ask, or what to say, and just stand back.

Queen Minnie opens her eyes, walks over to the green haired girl, places her gloved hand on the girl's head, and sighs.

* * *

To be continued...

Touhou-Project Shrine Maiden elements belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Kingdom Hearts elements belong to Square Enix and Disney Interactive

Other elements belong to their respective owners.

Ail, Kyo, Luna Rivers and Kimi were created by Willie G.R.

MAY 8, 2012

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**And so, another chapter is FINALLY done. I took too long again. Seriously, I have NO motivation to continue these, so I'm gonna go ahead and write other things in the meantime. I mean, the support for this fic is almost not felt. The only reason I know somebody is reading it is because of the hit/visits counter this site offers. I love those. Anyways, I pray I won't take TOO long to come back to this. In fact, I might add a paragraph once in a while of the next chapter, while writing the other things. Anyways, to those of you enjoying this, please be patient, and don't worry, I WILL finish this crossover. I won't leave it hanging.**

* * *

This Chapter's New Heartless

Rabid Dog - Mima was justly angry at Marisa for almost falling to these. They run around, trying to either bite you, or hit you with their howling. They are very weak, and even in large numbers, they are easy to deal with.

Darkball - Now THESE are a pain. They have really high defense, and hit hard and repeatedly, especially when they go all berserk and start biting all around while moving forward, or at a specific spot. Not only that, they dash toward you at full speed, and can knock you back, PLUS, when they turn to purple mists, they become invulnerable, and when they suddenly expand, they have a pretty long range of attack. These things are seriously annoying and strong.

Boss Heartless - Trickmaster - This guy may seem easy, and he is, but if you lower your guard, you'll find yourself with that annoying alarm that warns when you are about to die, and there will be nothing you can do about it. First of all, you cannot harm its feet, and this thing is tall. Second, the shockwaves it creates with its feet is when it stomps only, and not all the time (as I made it seem here). He'll walk around, juggling those clubs, and smack you with them, and when he ignites them with fire, it does double damage. It's good to have an ice spell ready for it when that happens. I admit I don't remember it showering fire on its attackers, but I still liked that idea for this story.


End file.
